THE BEST AND WORST ECONOMY AIRLINE SEATING CONCEPTS
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Loading... - J. OLIVEIRA
- 12 Jul 2020
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A patent has popped up online showing a nightmarish airline seating configuration that would no doubt result in an even more miserable economy flying experience than usual.
Project HD31 is an exploratory concept from a French company called Zodiac Aerospace, created in response to what airlines see as the (potentially profitable) problem of increasing the number of passengers in aircraft.
HD31 stands for High Density 31-inch spacing and involves rows with pop-down seats that form a kind of honeycomb pattern throughout the cabin. For every two passengers facing forward, one is facing backward, forcing people into an Escher-like intimacy with one another. This is a common tactic in business class seating, but squeeze that configuration into economy and with no privacy screens and you could find yourself nose-to-nose with a snoring, dribbling stranger.
Zodiac
This might seem like the worst possible seating plan, but there are plenty of equally hellish concepts for non-business cabins out there. There are also some pretty great ideas that have been put forward, which we can only hope will be considered for the next generation of aircraft. Let's check some of them out:
THE WORST
Perhaps the daddio of terrible ideas when it comes to airline seating are those who have pushed the idea of 'standing seats'.China's Spring Airlines was among the first to moot this idea back in 2009 and Airbus even came up with a patented concept for how seating would work in such a scenario (even if you're standing you have to be strapped to something. The result was something like a bicycle seat crossed with a bar stool.
Airbus
Aviointeriors
Similarly, the "Skyrider" seats designed by Italian company Aviointeriors were a combination of a cowboy saddle and a spinal splint board used by the emergency services.
Airbus
Airbus also came up with a few other corkers; earlier this year a cabin concept was released that showed an A380 with 11 seats packed into every row -- five in the middle and three on each side. The plane isn't getting any bigger, so obviously the solution was to make each of the existing seats slightly smaller.
Airbus
Another patented concept showed that Airbus was considering seats with built in VR helmets, which look not totally dissimilar to those retro hairdressing chairs with the huge plastic hoods. It's not that we're opposed to the idea of virtual reality on aeroplanes but we don't necessarily believe that forcing every passenger's head into a helmet groove is a good idea.
Also responding to a plea from airlines to squeeze more people, a company called Rebel Aero patented a design that "maximises the passenger envelope", while packing in as many seats as possible. Taller folks can use an alternative seating position that isn't that dissimilar to some of the standing seats in terms of surface area for one's posterior. It looks... uncomfortable.
Rebel Aero
THE BEST
Seymour Powell
British company Seymour Powell has designed a three-bank of airline seats whose width can be adjusted to allow for larger or smaller passengers. While we could imagine the negotiations between stranger neighbours not always being straightforward, it does make a heck of a lot sense.
The Morph seating concept also allows individuals to make personal, ergonomic adjustments. Armrests are extendable, so even if you do fall out with your neighbour, you at least won't have to battle them for arm space.
A similar concept comes from Sii in Germany, which makes use of the weird half-space in the plane's fuselage to create more of a bench, which can be adapted to people's needs. The "SANTO" is built especially to accommodate toddlers and oversized passengers.
SII Germany
"For a moderate surcharge, the safety of travelling infants can be significantly increased and the comfort of oversized travelers drastically improved", says Peter Miehlke, business unit manager and shareholder of SII Deutschland of the SANTO.
Thompson Aero Seating
Thompson Aero Seating is perhaps the best idea for improving economy seating that we've seen in a while. By staggering every seat in a row, the middle chair is no longer undesirable, as every passenger has their own space.
British Airways
British Airways
British Airways used to be known for its cabin innovation, but that reputation has faded of late. Its patented concepts for economy and premium economy seating could change this, however. The airline proposes introducing privacy screens in its economy cabin and the one forward-facing seat next to one backward-facing seat configuration in premium economy. This is not a dissimilar concept to Zodiac's idea -- the difference being there is once again a privacy screen between the seat, ensuring each passenger has a small area to call their own.
