Patent for new airline seating plan sits you face-to-face...

[timel]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/patent- ... 29?cmp=rss

[Flybabe]

Oh God, NO!

[AirFrame]

Two thumbs up. This would end any debates over whose armrests are between me and the adjacent passengers. Nobody ever understands that the middle seat gets both... Aisle seat gets easy access to the john, window seat gets a view. Middle seat gets both frikken armrests.

[timel]

Two thumbs up. This would end any debates over whose armrests are between me and the adjacent passengers. Nobody ever understands that the middle seat gets both... Aisle seat gets easy access to the john, window seat gets a view. Middle seat gets both frikken armrests.

Sorry no armrests

[target]

It will be interesting when they certify this configuration for evacuations.

[niss]

Sure when it's time to evacuate everyone will die, but what more could you want for 5 GBP per flight?

[cdnpilot77]

It will be interesting when they certify this configuration for evacuations.

Exactly my first thought...the space they would have to put between the seat rows would nullify any advantage....and no armrests, I would rather walk barefoot over a path of Legos. Economy Airline seats suck bad enough as it is with the fight over the armrests.

[GyvAir]

Pupae Seating.jpg (47.3 KiB) Viewed 1554 times

Really though, it probably isn't as bad as at first glance. Anyone who's ever rode a commuter train knows that face to face seating isn't going to make most people break out in hives. Evac might be better than with close pitch conventional seating, as the aisle is pretty wide once the seat bottoms are up.

[Rookie50]

Pupae Seating.jpg

Really though, it probably isn't as bad as at first glance. Anyone who's ever rode a commuter train knows that face to face seating isn't going to make most people break out in hives. Evac might be better than with close pitch conventional seating, as the aisle is pretty wide once the seat bottoms are up.

Do you see a wee difference between a 45 minute commuter train ride and a 15 hour flight to Hong Kong? Toronto - Ottawa flight 1 hour I'd stand, who cares. It's the long flights that kill you, the worse they make the seating.

[Siddley Hawker]

Dang. So much for surreptitiously picking your nose or scratching your balls.

[GyvAir]

Do you see a wee difference between a 45 minute commuter train ride and a 15 hour flight to Hong Kong? Toronto - Ottawa flight 1 hour I'd stand, who cares. It's the long flights that kill you, the worse they make the seating.

Of course.. done that exact flight and many more like it. I don't see them promoting this seating arrangement for anything but short haul anyway.
That said though, if they were to take the same concept, abandoning the increased seating density goal, upgrade the cushions to something comparable to current 777 comfort level, with armrests, I see some positives to it. I'm not huge, but fairly wide shouldered. I've had several flights that were pure torture for the sole reason that I was stuck seated - wedged, more like - between two linebacker sized men or women for the whole time. That issue is eliminated with these seats.
One far reaching negative I see is that come a serious accident, there may be more injuries to the forward facing passengers than the rearward facing ones, resulting in lawsuits claiming that not all passengers were afforded the same standards of safety.
Personally, I’d give it a fair shot. If a couple people facing me can’t handle accidently catching a glimpse of me rearranging my equipment a bit for comfort, screw ‘em. I’m sure I’ve been caught at that on the street a thousand times in my life.. what difference if caught doing it in the air?

[Gravol]

Do you see a wee difference between a 45 minute commuter train ride and a 15 hour flight to Hong Kong? Toronto - Ottawa flight 1 hour I'd stand, who cares. It's the long flights that kill you, the worse they make the seating.

Of course.. done that exact flight and many more like it. I don't see them promoting this seating arrangement for anything but short haul anyway.
That said though, if they were to take the same concept, abandoning the increased seating density goal, upgrade the cushions to something comparable to current 777 comfort level, with armrests, I see some positives to it. I'm not huge, but fairly wide shouldered. I've had several flights that were pure torture for the sole reason that I was stuck seated - wedged, more like - between two linebacker sized men or women for the whole time. That issue is eliminated with these seats.
One far reaching negative I see is that come a serious accident, there may be more injuries to the forward facing passengers than the rearward facing ones, resulting in lawsuits claiming that not all passengers were afforded the same standards of safety.
Personally, I’d give it a fair shot. If a couple people facing me can’t handle accidently catching a glimpse of me rearranging my equipment a bit for comfort, screw ‘em. I’m sure I’ve been caught at that on the street a thousand times in my life.. what difference if caught doing it in the air?

The actual video though doesn't make them look too appealing. The least they could do is make us think it's more comfortable lol. It would be interesting to experience one. I'd hope, fingers crossed, it would be for short haul high density traffic routes where comfort is not their number one concern, if it ever was. If there's a will there's a way. If there's a buck to be made and someone always willing to pay less, I wouldn't rule anything out!

[AirFrame]

That said though, if they were to take the same concept, abandoning the increased seating density goal, upgrade the cushions to something comparable to current 777 comfort level, with armrests, I see some positives to it. I'm not huge, but fairly wide shouldered. I've had several flights that were pure torture for the sole reason that I was stuck seated - wedged, more like - between two linebacker sized men or women for the whole time. That issue is eliminated with these seats.

This is exactly what I was thinking. I suspect that the seats could be made very comfortable and acceptable for long-haul flights yet still increase density. And i'd need a tray table for my laptop, a flimsy iPad holder wouldn't cut it on a long flight. But the arrangement is definitely a density improvement.

One far reaching negative I see is that come a serious accident, there may be more injuries to the forward facing passengers than the rearward facing ones, resulting in lawsuits claiming that not all passengers were afforded the same standards of safety.

I long for the days when people didn't make decisions based on who might sue them later if something goes wrong. Sadly, that ship has long since sailed.

I do wonder what happens when the prettiest girl on the flight gets the single seat in between two dirty old men. Or what happens on short-haul festival-seating flights where the rear facing seats become the only ones left and you have people who get violently ill when riding facing backwards in a vehicle... They exist, I know a few.

[bandaid]

Just in case you wanted to know who deleted those last few comments. If you want to continue arguing do so in PM's and not through derailing this thread.