Salient Motion, an aerospace startup, announced on Wednesday that it had signed its first production contract. The company will supply Italian seat maker Aviointeriors systems to move business-class seats from a seated position into a laying-flat position. The Torrance-based California company was founded by former employees of the defense contractor Anduril. It aims to reduce the time required to design, certify, and deliver complex components by reusing hardware and software building blocks. In an interview, Chief Executive Vishaal mali said that the contract was modest and covered?actuator system for a few hundreds seats. These will be installed on narrowbody Airbus or Boeing jets by two airlines from late 2026 to early 2027. He said that the contract is a first step towards the company's goal to become a major supplier for the next new aircraft by?Airbus and Boeing. Salient Motion has identified seat actuators, Mali explained, as an entry into the supply chain. The systems are complex and dominated by only a few suppliers. They also become more important as airlines increasingly rely on premium seating, which brings in higher revenues.
According to a study conducted by Tronos Aviation Consultancy and AeroDynamic Advisor, airlines will need to fill more than 8 million seats in the next 10 years. This is a $52 billion business.
