Armrests Out: Airlines Put The Squeeze On Weight

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flight-planeIf you thought airlines could find no new ways to squeeze more passengers into each plane, you are underestimating the resolve of the airline industry.

At this month’s Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, Germany, many of the 500 exhibitors were promoting new ideas to cut down on weight – to save fuel – and innovative layouts to fit more seats per cabin.

Among the concepts offered at the expo was a set of seats that put passengers face to face; seats that are installed in a staggered, diagonal layout, and bathrooms designed to wedge in a few extra passengers in the back of the cabin. One company has even introduced a lightweight lap belt.

Airlines may eventually pack in so many seats per cabin that carriers will reach the maximum passenger totals allowed by federal regulators. But US carriers have not reached that point yet.

“There is no question that densification – adding more seats to each aircraft – is an ongoing trend, and there is no sign of it letting up any time soon,” said Seth Kaplan, managing partner at the trade publication Airline Weekly.

One of the world’s largest airline interior manufacturers, France-based Zodiac Aerospace, unveiled a set of three seats with one passenger facing forward, one facing backward and another facing forward. The seat bottoms flip up, like the seats at a ballpark, to let passengers board and exit faster.

It’s a concept strictly for short-haul flights. The response from airlines at the expo? “Very interested,” said Pierre-Antony Vastra, an executive vice president at Zodiac.

The drawbacks: no armrests, and the seat bottom cushions are pretty thin.

Another aircraft interior manufacturer, Thompson Aero Seating of Northern Ireland, was promoting the “Cozy Suite.” It’s an idea that installs economy seats at an angle, with one slightly behind and to the left of the other, to maximize cabin space. The Cozy Suite also has tilt-up seat bottoms.

But the biggest buzz at the expo was over a small French company called Expliseat, which has developed a seat made of lightweight titanium and composite materials. It weighs about 8.8 pounds, whereas newer economy seats weigh about 24 pounds.

The company promises to save airlines up to $500,000 a year in fuel costs for the average Airbus 320 or Boeing 737 planes. On April 1, the seat won approval by the European Aviation Safety Agency for use on European aircraft.

Read more: THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

{Matzav.com Newscenter}


6 COMMENTS

  1. All these ideas are outrageous. Aren’t they saving so much money by not serving meals/snacks anymore? Aren’t they raising money by charging for luggage? The airlines are making money, hand over fist. They are already ripping off the passengers, for a long time. The reason they claim they are losing money, is because of the corrupt Unions, with all their benifits & pensions. I really trully hope, that these airlines go bankrupt and the Government should not bail them out. Let them go the TWA way or the Eastern Airline way. I say to the CEO’s: Drop Dead!

  2. Next they’ll do away with the passengers cabin? Maybe the young man who survived flying from San Jose CA to Maui Hawaii was a proof of concept.

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