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When social distancing requirements end (They will end, right?) the way seating is done on airplanes may change and what is being suggested looks very, very odd.
In an effort to quell concerns about, you know, being jammed into a giant metal tube, elbow to elbow with dozens of strangers from who knows where with God knows what health issues, airlines may be forced to alter the way passengers are seated to ensure more confidence in flying again.
With that in mind, Italian company Avio Interiors recently released mockups of two new seat designs that while they may help with the social distancing issue on airplanes, it appears they will do very little for comfort and/or privacy.
The first design features what Avio calls a “Glassafe” partition between passengers sitting in the same row.
A kit-level solution that can be installed on existing seats to make close proximity safer among passengers sharing the same seat. “Glassafe” is made of transparent material to make the entire cabin harmonious and aesthetically light, but perfectly fulfilling the objective of creating an isolated volume around the passenger in order to avoid or minimize contacts and interactions via air between passenger and passenger, so as to reduce the probability of contamination by viruses or other. “Glassafe” is supplied in various executions with fixing systems to the seat that allow easy installation and removal. “Glassafe” can be supplied in opaque material or with different degrees of transparency, all easy cleaning and suitable for a safe hygienisation.
Nothing like sitting in a plexiglass box for a few hours!
Related: Controversial Documentary Exposes The Truth About The Toxic Chemicals We Breathe When We Fly
Avio’s second design, called “Janus,” is even more radical as it sees the passenger in the middle seat facing backwards.
Like two-faced Janus, the god of Ancient Rome, this proposal is distinguished by the reverse position of the center seat of the triple to ensure the maximum isolation between passengers seated next to each other. While passengers seated on the side seats, aisle and fuselage, continue to be positioned in the flight direction as usual, the passenger sitting in the center is facing backwards.
So “Janus” is a two-faced seat, in fact this arrangement allows all three passengers to be separated with a shield made of transparent material that isolates them from each other, creating a protective barrier for everyone. Each passenger has its own space isolated from others, even from people who walk through the aisle.
Each place of the “Janus” seat is surrounded on three sides by a high shield that prevents the breath propagation to occupants of adjacent seats. “Janus” seat is made of easy cleaning and safe hygienisation materials.
The option is available with the shield in opaque material or with different degrees of transparency.
Yeeeahh… definitely not liking that option. I would be afraid to turn my head the entire flight for fear of accidentally locking eyes with either of the passengers on my left and right.
Maybe I’ll just not travel anymore.