Man who designed new double-decker plane seats defends creation
A new seating design for airliners has been revealed online and it's fair to say that the reaction has been, mixed.
It's not the first time that airlines have explored quirky and creative ways to try and cram as many passengers onto a flight as possible.
Ryanair previously caused controversy after suggesting that it was open to the idea of introducing standing space on flights - customers would strap in for take off and landing but then stand for the cruising portion of the flight.
The new idea takes a slightly different approach; instead of making passengers stand, it tries to squeeze in as many seats as possible by introducing double decker seating in aircraft.
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This is not the same as the titanic Airbus A380, which is a large enough airliner to actually have two floors, no, this one looks a bit like a space saving bed you would see in a tiny flat.
The higher row of seats are placed above and are accessed by climbing up a couple of steps, a bit like a bunk bed, while the lower seat then sits behind and partially underneath this, with a passengers legs going in the space underneath.
It all looks very cozy.
Initial reactions to the design were less than enthusiastic, with people piling on with everything from genuine safety concerns to the more prosaic, such as how anyone taller than 5ft 1ins could be comfortable in such a setup.
People took to Reddit share their thoughts on the seats.
One wrote: "Imagine some crazy turbulence and your legs get snapped, or you have to get off the plane in a hurry. Seems incredibly dangerous"
Another was more blunt, posting: "You could also fit more people into a jet by blending them into a fine slurry before boarding."
Nonetheless, the creator of the design Alejandro Núñez has come to its defence after a new design was revealed.
He said: “People can talk and they always hate innovation in some ways.
"Most of the times when they show you something new, everyone hates it at first, they’re scared of change.
"But the more you show it, and the more you develop it, and the more they see it, the more they get used to it.”
Grinding people down into accepting something through repeated exposure isn't quite the same as convincing them to like it, but you can't argue with commercial interest.
Airlines are indeed interested in the design, which has been called the 'Chaise Longue' and will be premiered at this year's Aircraft Interiors Expo.
The idea is that the seat would be in the centre aisle of larger aircraft, it would then be flanked by regular seating by the windows.
Kit Roberts