Proposed Seating Design Puts Passengers in the Baggage Hold

A new patent application from aircraft seat designer Zodiac calls for using cargo holds as passenger seating areas.

The engineers who earlier this year floated the idea of the “Economy-Class Cabin Hexagon” are at it again, this time with plans to turn the cargo areas on passenger planes into passenger seating areas. Designers say that adding seats in the belly of the plane could allow airlines to fit more passengers on flights without sacrificing any legroom.

Zodiac Aerospace designs for hexagon-shaped staggered front and rear facing seats were widely panned by both flyers and media outlets after details of the project became public in July. Like new plans for a cargo hold cabin, the novel hexagon seating concept promised increase aircraft seating capacity without increasing passenger discomfort, but the public wasn’t buying it. The hexagon designs were referred to “every flyer’s worst nightmare” by Fortune, described as “a fresh hell for economy flyers” by Huffington Post and called “the most nightmarish idea for plane seating ever” by Wired.

Patent Application #PCT/IB2015/054086 may have airline industry analysts reconsidering earlier pronouncements that the hexagon cabin designs were the worse case scenario. The latest concept from the French aerospace firm would see passengers riding in a part of the plane previously only used for suitcases, mail and shipping containers.

The plans aren’t quite as stark as they sound on paper. Video screens are would help make up for a lack of windows. Vending machines would adequately replace a nonexistent galley for refreshments and a spiral staircase is envisioned to help lower deck passengers feel connected with their upstairs neighbors.

The logic that inspired the new passenger cabin designs certainly appears sound. “On some routes there is a greater demand for transporting passenger than there is for transporting cargo, leaving a good amount of the cargo area unused,” designers noted in their patent application. “Such flights do not fully use the cargo area. Research has indicated that an average of only about 73% of the cargo area is used nowadays.”

There are still obstacles to overcome before below deck airline seating becomes a reality. Engineers admit that some structural reenforcement would be required to make a cargo hold cabin safe for passengers. Safety concerns, including the need for additional emergency exits and a potentially difficult escape in the event of a water landing will likely make regulatory approval for the radical concept a long uphill battle.

[Photo: Zodiac Aerospace]