www.metroworldnews.com October 2015
Legroom warfare: Uncomfortable news on airplane seats
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bizarre seating plans that could take off in the future
‘Stacked’ airplane seats. Airbus presented a rare patent for seating arrangements with passengers appearing to ride atop each other. The system would have one seat “arranged at a first lower level,” and “at least” one other seat above on an “elevated level.” Both seats would be able to recline into bed positions.
According to surveys, the thing which travelers like least about flying is the uncomfortable seats or limited legroom.
Aviation. Patents of awkward seating arrangements for passengers are already causing plenty of discomfort. Getting comfortable on an airplane is a constant struggle for passengers; from tiny legroom to cramped seats, the idea of travelling in style up high is a flight of fancy. And air travel could yet become an even more arduous affair as plane manufacturer Airbus recently filed a patent for seating arrangement with passengers ‘stacked’ on top of each other, news that has generated awe and uncertainty among tourists and experts. In early October, Airbus (the second largest jet maker after Boeing) presented in the United States Patent No. US20150274298, which proposes the position of an elevated deck structure on a main deck floor in the passenger cabin of a wide-body aircraft for providing a mezzanine seating area. “In modern
means of transport, in particular in aircraft, it is very important from an economic point of view to make optimum use of the available space in a passenger cabin,” said the Frenchbased firm in a press release in elucidating the patent. Indeed, Airbus’s proposal has generated a significant amount of feedback from the air travel community, some in favor and others against. “Airbus has been amazingly innovative and this may hark back to the days of bunkbeds on trains. Let’s try it. Nothing can be much worse than what passengers experience today,” Charles Leocha, chairman of Travelers United, a U.S.-based non-profit air travel group, told Metro. Meanwhile, Paul Hudson, president of U.S. lobbying group FlyersRights.org, said: “Terrible idea: this will increase conflicts with other passengers. And would make current discomfort seem mild.” In addition to Airbus’s proposal, there are many other patents that seek to ‘optimize’ space for passengers in commercial aircraft, but the implementation of most of these proposals would appear
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to elicit much adaption on the part of the passenger. Some of the patents suggest travel in rows of seats formulated like ring donuts, in seats with folding seat-backs and other even in fully-standing spaces. Making seats arguably more uncomfortable that today would represent a major issue for airlines; studies show that currently the main complaint of the passengers during the flight concerns seats. The most recent survey by TripAdvisor on air travel reveals that the thing which travelers like least about flying is the uncomfortable seats or limited legroom with 77%. Although the most common grievance among airline passengers are uncomfortable seats, the reality is that carriers and aircraft makers appear not to have attended to these complaints and, in contrast, have been reducing space for seating incrementally. Data from organizations like Consumer Reports and SeatGuru show that in recent decades the number of seats in the rows of the aircraft have increased, while the size of the seats has decreased. Yet if the biggest complaint
from passengers when flying is seat comfort, why companies have patents that seem to prioritize space efficiency over pleasure? Some observers believe that airlines are seeking to earn more money with these patents. “The main motivation is to increase profits and executive compensation,” said Paul Hudson; while aircraft manufacturers argue that they had hundreds of patents in order to “protect” their ideas, many of which are unlikely to be developed. While deciding whether such patents will be developed or not, experts believe that the best solution to bring more people in flights without affecting the comfort of the passengers is “to look at planes with a larger circumference that would allow wider seats”, according to Charles Leocha, and having “reasonable regulation to prevent overcrowding and price gouging while ending airline exemptions from antitrust and consumer protection laws” concluded Hudson.
DANIEL CASILLAS MWN
Hexagonal seating. Can you imagine traveling for hours staring at the face of another passenger opposite? It sounds a little odd, but Zodiac Seats, a UK-based seat manufacturer, filed a patent called ‘Economy Class Cabin Hexagon’, which consists of alternate-forward and backward-facing seats.
Bike seats. In December 2013, Airbus filed a patent for a bicycle-like seat: a backrest which describes a circular translation movement towards the front and upwards of the device when the seating structure brought to the retracted configuration. Some media have called this seat as a replica of a torture device.
Q&A
GEORGE HOBICA Founder of Airfarewatchdog. com, an air travel advice website
Airbus recently filed a patent that would stack passengers on top of each other with the argument of to “make optimum use of the available space in a passenger cabin”. What is your opinion about that? First of all, I think a lot of these patent applications are filed in order to pre-empt competitors from filing them, and not necessarily because they have plans to implement them. That said, I
can’t believe that passengers would want to fly in many of these configurations. Could this patent be translated into reality? I don’t see these schemes being implemented anytime soon and I find Airbus’ patent applications curious to say the least. Maybe they are filed for the publicity value or, as I said, to prevent Boeing or seat manufacturers from filing them first.
would bring the air travel experience to new lows. As for being dangerous, airlines – at least in the U.S. – are required to prove that their planes can be evacuated in an emergency in under 90 seconds, even with half of the exits out of service. So, if aircraft manufacturers cram more passengers into planes they would presumably have to add more exit doors. Also, what about space for carry on bags in overhead bins?
Can such patents become annoying or even dangerous for passengers? I don’t think the patents themselves would be annoying but implementing them
Are airlines under pressure to slash fares and cram in ever more people without extending cabin space? Currently most airlines are not under pressure, thanks
to lower fuel prices; however, it’s a very competitive industry and if fuel prices spike again then the airlines with higher cost structures will need to compete with the super discounters such as Ryanair, EasyJet, Spirit, Frontier, and Air Asia. What could be the best solution to get more passengers into the air? Of all the schemes I’ve seen, the ”semi-standing” or ”saddle” approach makes the most sense. After all, airline seats have become so firm and uncomfortable, with less padding, that maybe a vertical semi-standing would be preferable. MWN
Doughnut. In April last year, Airbus filed a patent in which the rows of seats are located as a donut-shaped and that looks decidedly more Star Trek Enterprise than an airplane. According to the patent, seating passengers in a circle, doughnut-style setup allows for more fliers than the old-fashioned paper-towel-holder-with-two-wings.