#[1]alternate [2]alternate [3]alternate [4]alternate

  IFRAME: [5]https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-NLXNPCQ

[6]Ars Technica

  [7]←
  [8]→
  0
  ____________________

    * [9]Biz & IT
    * [10]Tech
    * [11]Science
    * [12]Policy
    * [13]Cars
    * [14]Gaming & Culture
    * [15]Newsletter
    * [16]Forums
    * [17]Subscribe
    * [18]Store

[19]View Full Site

    * [20]light
    * [21]dark

[22]Log in

[23]Register

[24]Cars / All things automotive

Why you’ll never fly in an airplane with those double-decker seats

Yet again, a designer proposes cramming way more people into airliners.

  by [25]Abigail Bassett - Jun 7, 2023 3:44 pm UTC
  [26]201

  [chaise-longue-airline-seat-800x481.jpg]
  You can explore [27]a 3D model of the Chaise Longue Economy Seat.
  Chaise Longue Economy Seat

  Regular travelers know all too well just how uncomfortable airplanes
  have gotten over the last few years. Seats are [28]narrower and offer
  less legroom than they have in years past, and as prices rise, thanks
  to the perfect storm of [29]inflation and [30]corporate greed, flying
  economy feels more like some form of modern torture to be endured than
  a luxurious experience. Add in the terrifying double-decker and
  standing-room-only seat configurations that airliners and designers are
  attempting to sell to the paying public, and the picture of the future
  of airline travel only gets bleaker.

  Take the most recent hubbub around designer Alejandro Núñez Vincente’s
  so-called Chaise Longue setup, which has made its second, updated
  appearance at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, Germany, this
  week. We may have just reached peak uncomfortable airline seating.

  Don’t believe us? Media outlets are running stories about [31]what
  happens when someone farts in these seats. But before we declare the
  end of human-oriented economy airline travel or wring our hands in
  dismay at just how many people are packed into flying jerky-makers in
  the sky, we decided to do some digging and find out why these designs
  are unlikely to take off (pun fully intended).

A variety of configurations

  The standing seat has been around for more than 20 years. Airbus was
  the first to pioneer the idea of standing seats and filed a [32]patent
  for them in [33]2015. In 2019, an Italian design house called
  [34]Aviointeriors showed off a [35]bicycle-style upright seat called
  the Skyrider, which had poles attaching each row to the airplane’s
  interior. While it caused plenty of angst in the travel community and
  made a couple of budget airline CEOs float the idea of installing them
  (we’re looking at you, Ryanair and Spring Airlines) these seats never
  took off and are simply not going to fly.

  The idea of stacked seating has been around for many years, with
  [36]patents going back as far as 1948. Some have included everything
  from outward-facing seats to bunk beds, [37]honeycomb-style seating,
  and seats that look more like [38]yoga manuals than seating
  configurations. The latest is the double-decker Chaise Longue setup
  that reappeared this week.
  [271969-11.jpg]
  Designer Alejandro Núñez Vicente relaxes in the 2022 iteration of his
  Chaise Longue Economy seat.
  Alejandro Núñez Vicente

FAA regulations

  Here in the US, the [39]Federal Aviation Administration is in charge of
  regulating all civil aviation. There are plenty of rules that deal
  directly with seating and emergency [40]exit access, the number of
  [41]flight attendants needed per passenger, and the physical
  requirements that seats must adhere to in “[42]emergency landing
  dynamic conditions,” but none of these regulations specifically address
  the issue of comfort or personal space in airplane seating.

  But if airlines decide to try double-decker or standing seats, those
  setups will have to stand up to, and meet, stringent (if old) FAA
  standards, like this bit from that emergency landing dynamic conditions
  regulation mentioned above:
  [43][CFR-airline-seat-640x680.jpg]
  [44]Enlarge
  National Archives

  In stacked seating, the heads of the passengers on the bottom tiers are
  precariously close to the seats of those on the top tiers, which could
  cause serious injury in the event of an emergency maneuver. The same
  would be true with standing seats since they are spaced so closely
  together from front to back, and passengers’ heads would be much closer
  to the fuselage of a plane when using a standing seat.

  Then there’s the political wrangling around airplane seating. Late last
  year, the FAA opened a session for comments on seat sizes on flights
  and was flooded with more than 26,000 comments before it was closed,
  and the major carriers threw a tantrum about the idea of minimum seat
  sizes.

  Just last month, Democratic [45]Senator Tammy Duckworth reopened the
  issue and introduced [46]S.1765, legislation that would curb the
  increasingly shrinking airplane seat. Duckworth is a decorated, retired
  Army National Guard lieutenant colonel and the first woman with a
  disability to be elected to US Congress.

  According to [47]The Washington Post, the bill has the backing of pilot
  and flight attendant unions and passenger and medical advocacy groups,
  and it would require a reassessment of 2018 evacuation rules that call
  for passengers to be able to evacuate in 90 seconds. Current FAA
  testing is done with non-disabled passengers with no carry-ons. The
  [48]FAA administrator admitted that these tests were “​​useful but not
  necessarily definitive.” The new bill would require the FAA to consider
  and test how easily people of different heights, sizes, ages, and
  mobility could quickly and safely evacuate a plane and add
  considerations for darkness, smoke, and carry-ons. The bill is
  currently in committee.

  [49]Expand full story

  Page: 1 [50]2 [51]Next →

  [52]Reader comments 201
  Advertisement
   [53]← Older Story [54]Newer Story →

  [55][condenast-logo.png]
  CNMN Collection
  WIRED Media Group
  © 2023 Condé Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on
  any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our [56]User
  Agreement (updated 1/1/20) and [57]Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement
  (updated 1/1/20) and [58]Ars Technica Addendum (effective 8/21/2018).
  Ars may earn compensation on sales from links on this site. [59]Read
  our affiliate link policy.
  [60]Your California Privacy Rights | Do Not Sell My Personal
  Information
  The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed,
  transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written
  permission of Condé Nast.
  [61]Ad Choices

References

  1. http://feeds.arstechnica.com/arstechnica/index
  2. https://arstechnica.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/1946055
  3. https://arstechnica.com/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/06/why-youll-never-fly-in-an-airplane-with-those-double-decker-seats/
  4. https://arstechnica.com/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/06/why-youll-never-fly-in-an-airplane-with-those-double-decker-seats/&format=xml
  5. https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-NLXNPCQ
  6. https://arstechnica.com/
  7. https://arstechnica.com/shopping/2023/06/dealmaster-savings-on-maker-tools-and-board-games/
  8. https://arstechnica.com/apple/2023/06/apple-has-a-proton-like-game-porting-toolkit-for-getting-windows-games-on-mac/
  9. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/
 10. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/
 11. https://arstechnica.com/science/
 12. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/
 13. https://arstechnica.com/cars/
 14. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/
 15. https://arstechnica.com/newsletters/
 16. https://arstechnica.com/civis/
 17. https://arstechnica.com/store/product/subscriptions/
 18. https://arstechnica.com/store/
 19. https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/06/why-youll-never-fly-in-an-airplane-with-those-double-decker-seats/?view=grid
 20. https://arstechnica.com/?mobile_theme=light
 21. https://arstechnica.com/?mobile_theme=dark
 22. https://arstechnica.com/civis/login?_xfRedirect=/cars/2023/06/why-youll-never-fly-in-an-airplane-with-those-double-decker-seats/
 23. https://arstechnica.com/civis/register/
 24. https://arstechnica.com/cars/
 25. https://arstechnica.com/author/ars-staff/
 26. https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/06/why-youll-never-fly-in-an-airplane-with-those-double-decker-seats/?comments=1
 27. https://chaiselongue.3dseatmapvr.com/ChaiseLongue.html
 28. https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-08-11/airlines-have-been-shrinking-seats
 29. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/12/airfare-surged-20percent-over-pre-pandemic-levels-as-inflation-hit-vacations.html
 30. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jun/05/airlines-on-course-record-revenues-803bn-2023-iata-willie-walsh-fares-profits
 31. https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/why-you-shouldnt-worry-about-gassy-passengers-on-the-stacked-plane-seats/ar-AA1cd2UU
 32. https://time.com/4064717/airbus-patent-seating/
 33. https://patents.google.com/patent/US9540108B2/en
 34. https://aviointeriors.it/
 35. https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/in-flight-standing-seats-idUSRTR2IENP
 36. https://patents.google.com/patent/US2595607A/en
 37. https://www.wired.com/2015/07/hey-look-nightmarish-idea-plane-seating-ever/
 38. https://patents.google.com/patent/US5716026A/en?q=(high-capacity,+high-comfort+split-level+seating+transport+and+stationary+applications)&oq=high-capacity,+high-comfort+split-level+seating+for+transport+and+stationary+applications
 39. https://www.faa.gov/
 40. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-23/subpart-D/subject-group-ECFR4c43fc50678e0f5/section-23.2315
 41. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-I/subchapter-G/part-121/subpart-M/section-121.391
 42. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-25/subpart-C/subject-group-ECFRda24a9b1d389632/section-25.562
 43. https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/CFR-airline-seat.jpg
 44. https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/CFR-airline-seat.jpg
 45. https://www.duckworth.senate.gov/
 46. https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/1765
 47. https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2023/05/31/airplane-evacuations-safety/
 48. https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/2022-03/PL-115-254-Sec-337-Aircraft-Cabin-Evacuation-Standards.pdf
 49. https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/06/why-youll-never-fly-in-an-airplane-with-those-double-decker-seats/
 50. https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/06/why-youll-never-fly-in-an-airplane-with-those-double-decker-seats/2/
 51. https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/06/why-youll-never-fly-in-an-airplane-with-those-double-decker-seats/2/
 52. https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/06/why-youll-never-fly-in-an-airplane-with-those-double-decker-seats/?comments=1
 53. https://arstechnica.com/shopping/2023/06/dealmaster-savings-on-maker-tools-and-board-games/
 54. https://arstechnica.com/apple/2023/06/apple-has-a-proton-like-game-porting-toolkit-for-getting-windows-games-on-mac/
 55. http://www.condenast.com/
 56. https://www.condenast.com/user-agreement/
 57. https://www.condenast.com/privacy-policy/
 58. https://arstechnica.com/amendment-to-conde-nast-user-agreement-privacy-policy/
 59. https://arstechnica.com/affiliate-link-policy/
 60. https://www.condenast.com/privacy-policy/#california
 61. https://www.condenast.com/online-behavioral-advertising-oba-and-how-to-opt-out-of-oba/#clickheretoreadmoreaboutonlinebehavioraladvertising(oba)

You are viewing proxied material from 1436.ninja. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.