Airline seats cannot possibly get any more cramped. Right? Wrong. Where there’s a will to maximize profits there’s a way. These new airline “seats” are designed for an “ultra-high-density economy cabin” (Translation: cramming as many passengers as possible in the cabin no matter how uncomfortable they are). They would have you stand during your flight because who wouldn’t want to relax on your flight by standing upright the entire time.
Italian company Aviointeriors introduced the Skyrider 2.0 “saddle seat” at the Aircraft Interiors Expo 2018 in Hamburg, Germany this week and it looks horrifying. If you thought the economy class was hellishly constricting before, get a load of this airplane seating arrangement that is tighter than your waistline after grazing at the all-you-can-eat buffet.
It’s baaaaaack! The AvioInteriors Skyrider saddle seat is returning to #AIX18 after its controversial reception. Will the fact that 28” is normal on low-cost carriers mean that a 23” squat for a (very) short flight seems more #PaxEx palatable? #avgeek pic.twitter.com/zLylr91NiT
— John Walton • @thatjohn.bsky.social (@thatjohn) April 10, 2018
What the f*ck is this malarkey? I’ve seen more room on a roller coaster. First off, they should be sued for false advertising because that’s not a seat, it’s a perch. Secondly, who wants to be slouch standing during an entire flight? Aviointeriors claims the “seats” will provide “adequate comfort” for flyers on shorter flights. Technically, you are given plenty of leg room because your legs are going straight down.
The distance between the point on a row of seats and the same point on the row before is just 23 inches on Skyrider 2.0, that’s five inches less than the seat pitch on Spirit Airlines, which pretty much features airline seats for ants. Somehow they manage to sneak miniature armrests and seat-back tray tables into the cramped design. But with everyone standing there is no stowing baggage under the seats, so I’m sure the airlines would then charge you more for carry-on luggage.
If you thought this was just a joke, take fear in knowing that Aviointeriors has received “strong interest” in their standing “seats.” Here’s the scary part that could tempt airlines into adopting this torture device. “Thanks to this seat, we are able to increase the number of passengers by 20 percent with a consequent increase in profits for airline companies,” Aviointeriors writes. If there’s one thing that airlines love more than dragging passengers off their flight, its profits.
[FoxNews]