Airbus Envisions Bench Seats in the Future

The French aircraft manufacturer files for a U.S. patent on new bench-style aircraft seats.

Manufacturer Airbus envisions the future of passenger comfort could be bench seats, going so far as filing patents to protect their idea. Filed on February 11, the latest invention by the commercial aircraft company involves installing passenger seats without divides, comprising of one solid back rest and one solid seat.

According to technical diagrams filed with the application, the bench seat could fit as many as three adults, similar to today’s seating arrangements. However, instead of individual cushions and partitions between flyers, passengers would be seated together across the bench. In the event only two flyers are seated on a bench, a tray table could be folded down from the middle-seat area. According to the manufacturer, the bench seat patent is the most efficient way to address the needs of passengers with all needs, from large flyers to the elderly.

“In modern means of transport, particularly in aircraft, optimum utilization of the space available in a passenger cabin is of major economic importance,” Airbus writes in their patent application. “In addition, efforts are made to design the passenger cabin of a commercial aircraft in such a way that flexible adaptation of the cabin layout to the requirements of specific user groups…is possible.”

In defending their patent, Airbus writes one example of the seat’s application could be in providing more room to “overweight passengers or passengers with restricted mobility” in business class. Another example provided in the application offers seating for a family, as the bench seat would have “sufficient space for two adults and also for two small children sitting, for example, between the two adults.” The patent application is pending, with no plans to install bench seats on commercial aircraft anytime soon.

The application is the latest in a long list of seating patents filed by Airbus in the last year. In October, the aircraft manufacturer applied for a patent for “aircraft sleeping pods,” followed by multi-tier aircraft seating. Earlier in February, the manufacturer filed a patent for stowing items inside an aircraft seat.

[Photo: Airbus]