> they feared using water could cause further problems as the seat’s mechanism was electrically-powered.
I've been on many flights but never once on an electrically-powered seat. Is that something you find in business/first-class ?
Come morning I slowly returned to upright and could see all the way down into cattle class - where I discovered that one of my colleagues had been on the same flight... he looked less than impressed.
Another time - pre 9/11 - I somehow managed to make it all the way through to boarding a day early for my flight. So they bumped me up a class to get me on the plane.
It's missing the showers, the beds with full linens, the 1:1 attendant, the suites... If you get a chance try first class on Qatar airways, Singapore, etc
Historically, you're right about domestic first class--which was similar to what's sometimes sold as premium economy these days.
However, some airlines (e.g. United) do sometimes have, in United's case, Polaris seating in business/first which is similar to/same as lie-plat Polaris seating in international. AFAIK, United just has the single Polaris class and doesn't have a separate first class like some airlines do.
My first experience with business and first class was long haul through the middle east, so the disappointment is still fresh for me a later time when I treated myself to first on a domestic flight and the only wonderful part of the experience was some juice in a glass while watching everyone else get on the plane.
Lithium batteries on the other hand do contain raw lithium and thus will react with water. These types of batteries aren't used in phones though.