Every year, some enthusiastic inventor loves to show off a creation for what they think will improve flying economy class. It’s no secret that countless people hate the existing format of packing planes with uncomfortable seats without much legroom. Yet, what we have now seems to be better than what keeps getting proposed.
Today, I published a story about how a young inventor wants to solve the tiny seat problem by deleting overhead bin space for double-decker seats. This idea has been pitched since at least 2021, but as of this year it now has Airbus backing. Why would Airbus be into such a thing? Well, Airbus once proposed a bizarre standing seat solution back in 2003, so this is right up the plane manufacturer’s alley. It looks like none of you were having it. From NC Miata NA:
Why don’t the airlines just install grab bars and make people stand like those filthy train riders? Think of how many more dollars….errr…passengers could be moved per flight. New FAA regulations can easily be purchased these days. Do airline CEOs hate money or something?
Anoos:
Finally!
The one common complaint about air travel is the distance the passenger in front’s fart must travel to the passenger behind’s face.
V10omous:
If a passenger passed gas “it wouldn’t go straight through,” unless it were especially forceful.
Challenge accepted.
Our site’s readership is full of knowledgeable people. Everyone here is an expert in something. Today, Jason showed you a picture of a weird lamp and called it a gargoyle. I’m not sure what’s going on here, but Gilbert Wham made me laugh:
Ummmm, ACKSHULLY, it’s only a gargoyle if it has a waterspout incorporated into it. Otherwise, it’s a grotesque. Or a lamp fitting of course.
Emme Hall published a piece about the insane electric unicycles that raced at King Of The Hammers. It makes you wonder who would be silly enough to ride such a thing. Ash78 is on the case:
It’s like this unholy diagram of guys who buy first-edition Modest Mouse pressings on vinyl but also pound 17 Monster Energy drinks every day.
Dean Kamen’s meth-addled brother in law who is out for revenge.
Guys whose hobbies include handlebar mustaches and wingsuit jumping
Have a great evening, everyone!
I’m 6 feet tall and find the legroom in domestic-economy seats to be…fine? I mean, it could be better but it’s fine. I fly United 99% of the time (because free) so I can’t speak about airlines like Spirit. But that seating idea is all kinds of bad. Qui bono? The airlines. Not the passengers, despite appearances.
I was on a date last night and made a Modest Mouse joke at a hipster’s expense and now here’s another one!
I say this as a self identifying elder hipster.
I still think coffin-like shipping containers and timed sedatives would be the best thing, especially for really long trips.
Until you’re stuck with a delay and the entire plane awakens in a coffin still awaiting takeoff.
Bluetooth enabled drug delivery devices!
I’m in favor of this with or without the pods.
A capsule hotel flight for long trips would kick ass.
Not sure how to square this seating arrangement with the idea that I can’t keep my jacket folded in my lap during takeoff as it might impede my ability to evacuate the aircraft.
In the ’80’s, a few guys in my company flew to remote Russian cities to overhaul equipment. They said the cabin crew set up folding chairs in the aisle for overbooked airline passengers.
Russia held their passports until they were satisfied with the job. Reportedly the food was terrible, but vodka was plentiful.
Went to Russia on a student visa back in the 00’s. Food was still terrible. Vodka was still plentiful.
I’ve flown on both Aeroflot and Spirit. Hard to decide which was worse. I guess Aeroflot, because their air sickness bags were clear plastic.
I traveled for work for too long (4-10 flights/month for 15 years). An airline seat is 16.5″ – 18″ wide depending on the airline and plane. I am 24″ wide at the shoulders.
I would book a window seat and sit angled against the hull to allow space for other passengers. If I had to book a middle seat, at worst I’d have to spend the whole flight hunched a bit forward. In a row with two other wide boys we’d all kind of turn a little sideways and end up in a weird semi-spoon configuration.
Air travel is the worst, and airlines are constantly trying to make it even worse than you thought it could be. Air travel is the only reason I’d consider getting an RV. Even if it sits unused for essentially the entire year, the convenience of not having to deal with air travel would be worth it. Plus, I can bring the dogs.
If you give me the opportunity to sit on that upper seat, I will buy a sack or bean burritos and eat the on the way to the airport. Why should airlines have all the fun? I can make air travel worse all by myself.
As someone who is tall, broad, and quite front heavy at the moment, I feel that seating configuration in my soul. Thankfully, work lets me book Premium Economy or First Class tickets for most travels when I have to fly. When I’m with my wife, we usually fly Southwest and we’ve gotten very good at making the middle seat look very unattractive for most flyers (I shit you not, my shoulder hits the middle seat head rest if I keep my posture up). The pain of flying can be subdued, but you have to pay to play.
This crazy seating configuration has me thinking of the most recent Delta crash. Imagine a plane where people are stacked like that, now upside down. It would be a hassle to get these people out of the kooky configuration and probably slow down exit speeds to where it wouldn’t pass regulation, I imagine.
The idea of more leg room at the cost of someone farting in my face almost makes it worth it to me, and if I had a fetish? I’d probably pay extra.
Make the base product so unappealing that people scramble to announce how they pay for ‘upgrades’ to make the experience less shitty. It’s a business model for sure.
This is the inevitable result of not having a viable rail travel option.
I have taken a couple of trips on Amtrak. San Diego to Sacramento took 12+ hours. Sacramento to Philadelphia took three and a half days. Either trip would have been so much faster on a commercial jet.
IMHO, the US is too big for rail to be a viable option.
OTH, I’ve taken the Eurostar train through the Chunnel from England to France and that was far preferable over dealing with airports.
If we had the infrastructure and didn’t let freight dictate the rail usage it could become a somewhat reasonable alternative.
If airlines actually start seating passengers a$$ to mouth it may get people pushing for options.
Freight dictates the rail usage because they own the rails. While passenger rail is certainly lacking, the US is pretty much the best in the world at moving freight by rail
I’d argue that the base product is not unappealing, most mainline airlines Economy product is actually quite nice (Delta and United more than AA) with backseat entertainment and decent meals/snacks. I’m just an outlier at 6’7″ and on the highside of 350lbs. So yeah, I’m not exactly going to be comfortable or even safe in an economy seat and I understand that. It’s why for years I’ve avoided economy airlines as even their “premium” seats are barely a step above Economy on the Big 3.
The pain of flying is all based on your body and what you’re willing to accept. When I was a younger and thinner man, I’d be willing to contort into a Spirit seat for 4 hours with an Ambien since a $99 flight round trip to LA was worth it to me. Now, as I’ve gotten older, I’d much rather pay an additional $700 to get a quality seat and enjoy that 4 hours with a meal and a movie or two. Or at worse, a $350 Southwest flight with an open middle seat so my wife can rest on my shoulder.
Flying sucks no matter what, from start to finish it’s a process that can be a gigantic pain in the ass if anything goes wrong or is delayed. Even with one of the best airlines: a delayed bag, an issue at TSA, a problem with the desk at the gate, plane issues, etc. I’ll take my niceties where I can.
Most of my travel was domestic flights with no business / first available. Flew mostly on Jetblue since they had the most flights in/out of BOS and they offered some ‘more legroom’ seats at the time, but legroom is not really my problem.
I should add that I have taken the Acela from DC to Penn Station in NYC and that was cool and again, better than dealing with airport stuff. But I live near Seattle. Amtrak takes 3.5 – 4 hours just to get to Portland, OR. Driving takes less than 3 hours, and I don’t have to Uber/Lyft around once I get there.
To get to Sacramento (roughly a 12-hour drive) the once-daily train takes more than 20 hours and gets in at 6:30 in the morning.
I don’t have much reason to go to DC or NYC, but if I do I will probably take the Acela.
I’m lying. I’d drive to NYC because I’m an idiot. I would hate every f’n second of the drive (Connecticut can kindly sit behind/beneath me on my bean flight).
Ha! The first time I traveled to Chicago for work, I rented a car, sat crawling in traffic from O’Hare to downtown for what felt like an hour and then had to pay $50 a day to park it. Lesson learned.
Still love visiting Chicago, though.
Interesting that they used to not offer that. Now a days, even a commuter Delta flight has large 1st class seats on a CRJ in a 1-2 configuration. I’ve not flown a ton on the East Coast so JetBlue has never been an airline I’ve had the pleasure of flying. I’ve always heard good things, especially with their 1st Class options going over to Europe. Will have to give them a shot next time I’m over on that side of the country.
“I will buy a sack or bean burritos and eat the on the way to the airport”
Strange how you misspelled “cuttlefish and asparagus”.
I’m not that cruel.
visualize this: Alaska air from Seattle to Milwaukee. Me, at the time 260, 52″ shoulders, 6’2″, next to my son in the window seat. 6’6″, 300+, and shoulders as broad as an oak tree. Along comes the aisle seat guy, wider than both of us on a completely booked plane. Fuck I hate the new reality of airplanes, and I agree with the RV idea, though I’m an old hippie in my minds eye, so it has to be a VW Camper. So we can bring the newly acquired dog courtesy of our daughter.
That description of the uni-cycle guys is spot on.
Thank you, I’m shocked anyone noticed it. The airline seat thread today was a showstopper 🙂
We’ll all float on, okay? OKAY??? I BACKED MY CAR INTO A COP CAR