The Key to More Room in Economy Class?
Meg Butler May 20, 2018
Image by Imagery & VR Experience © Neutral Digital, 2018
It seems like 2018 has been particularly rife with seat news. First there were the terrifying standing seats that debuted at the Aircraft Interiors Expo. Then there were business class seats with doors, lie-flats on a budget airline and even cabin maps in virtual reality that let you test your seat before you purchase it.
Now there’s been more news from the future: PearsonLloyd, the company that designed the Lufthansa A350’s economy class, says that they can deliver a new design that can simultaneously fit more seats in economy class and give people more room.
Image by Imagery & VR Experience © Neutral Digital, 2018
Says Luke Pearson of PearsonLloyd, the increased comfort level will come from a new, ergonomic, approach to seat design which he describes this way:
“one of the key design features is the separation of the headrest from the back, by introducing a central spine and neck to support the head rest. This maximises the passenger’s personal space and creates increased sight lines through the cabin by narrowing the seat from the rear.”
Image by Imagery & VR Experience © Neutral Digital, 2018
The seat will also feature a new “central spine” that passengers will put their knees on either side of to give them a few extra inches of comfort. And, says Pearson, they have been designed to recline further (no word on how much) with less encroachment on your rear neighbor.
What do you think?
“More seats and more space." Problem with this is always the same: the airlines choose "Even more seats and not more space". HTB.
all of those curved seats fail the taller irregularly shaped bodies. More than fail, they are horrific
Part of the problem too is airlines are buying seats that are flush with the sidewall and window seat passengers are not really comfortable because of it. (United 737s)