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Airbus Patents Adjustable Seats, In-Seat Storage For Aircarft (consumerist.com)
AmiMoJo writes: Airbus, a leading aircraft manufacturer, has recently applied for a pair of airplane seat patents that simultaneously look to increase customer comfort while stripping away what little room remains. The first patent is for a "Re-Configurable Passenger Bench Seat," which allows seat belts and arm rests to be moved to accommodate different size passengers (e.g. two large adults, or two small adults and two small children in a row). The second patent places a storage box under each seat, which is accessed by raising the seat cushion. Of course, this means there wouldn't be room for your feet under the seat in front of you.
who needs them anyway in the age of segway and co? amputate your legs, and get robo-legs. Only wear them if required and you can get billed extra for your legs in your luggage.
From the drawings it looks like they patented the back seat of my car and some Ikea furniture.
Is that Tom Cruise, sitting next to John Stewart?
"Commercial air travel is the #1 industry in which the customer is routinely and perpetually FUCKED."
I've never been able to get that level of service from the cabin crew.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
I first read about this in another context, which was about making airplanes more comfortable for really fat people. Although I hate the random event of sitting next to a fat person and having them spill over into my space (and trying to force them not to do that), I hate more that my space could simply be reduced because some slider was scooted over for them.
For every problem, there is at least one solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.
I have an idea for a third patent: Drill two holes in the storage box under the seat in front of you to make room for your feet.
Blame all the discount travel sites. Putting a plane in the air is expensive but nobody wants to shoulder that burden, instead they want discount flights where more and more people are packed in like cattle cars, every option costs more and more money and then people do nothing but complain about the quality of their flight or the service.
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law - Aleister Crowley
So essentially, if you have someone next to you who's eaten all the pies, you get a smaller seat?
Only if you aren't paying enough for the 'better' classes.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
Or you just replace the box with something that is made out of a strong deformable cloth. If it is empty your feet will have the space, otherwise if it contains stiff you'll just be kicking the other passenger's stuff.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
Same here... my legs are in agony if they can't extend under the seat in front of me. 6 hours with my legs doubled up would probably be considered torture. Why not just give me an injection, knock me out, and stuff me in the cargo hold?
Why not just give me an injection, knock me out, and stuff me in the cargo hold?
US Patent 56,885,322
If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
This would also further limit (as have flight entertainment systems installed under the seats) the availability of in-cabin pet space.
Haven't been on an airplane in years and am having less and less desire to do it in the future.
I liked RyanAir's idea to put more cattle in the plane. Have people standing in the plane. At least I would be able to stretch my legs instead of having my legs in my neck.
The patent link is for "device for controlling the speed of a spaceplane during the transition from a phase of space flight to a phase of aeronautical flight and associated transition method".
they add the words "in an aircraft" to several old inventions. Yeah, real novel concept that....
Actually there are even better drawings in the other crazy idea Airbus came up with: stacking passengers.
Which post are you replying to?
It will always get worse for airline customers, never better.
Really? I'm on holiday. My international flight (one way) cost just as much as a return train ticket from Rotterdam to Schiphol airport (1h trip).
Flying used to be reserved for the wealthy. It just keeps getting better and better.
Greetings from Barcelona
Same here... my legs are in agony if they can't extend under the seat in front of me. 6 hours with my legs doubled up would probably be considered torture. Why not just give me an injection, knock me out, and stuff me in the cargo hold?
Because human bodies do not respond nearly as well to being treated like luggage as luggage does.
Can these new storage areas double as flotation devices in case of an emergency, or will I have to pack an extra "Emergency Exit" arrow in there
WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
Okay, so our flight just landed and I'm siting near the back of the plane, not far from the galley door. As we are taxiing to the jetway the pilot gets on the PA and says something about the weather outside and where we can get our bags. We hear him hang up the mike but it's still active. The next thing we hear is the pilot saying to the co-pilot, "Man, what I could use right now is a hot coffee and a blow job." I see the stewardess in the galley go running to the flight deck door. I yell up to her as she passes, "Lady! You forgot the coffee!"
I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
I don't know if it is airline policy or just some of the airline staff that give a damn. I can remember a couple times I approach the ticket counter and the person behind the desk says something like, "I'll get you an exit row seat." Oh, did I mention I'm in the 1%? I'm taller than 99% of the US population.
Another time I was seated in the most rear seat on the plane. There was a bulkhead directly behind the seat so it was a bit closer to the one in front and it could not recline. One of the cabin crew asked if I wanted a different seat. At this point the plane was already moving, the flight was near capacity, and it was only about a 45 minute hop in the plane. I refused a different seat, I didn't want the plane to stop because a passenger wasn't buckled in.
Those were some of the better flights. I had a rather memorable flight where I was in a window seat in a rather small plane. The curvature of the cabin was such that I could not put both of my size 15 feet on the floor. I spent the entire flight shuffling my feet around looking for a comfortable position. Also, the walls were barely insulated, I was freezing.
I learned a few things. First, bring some big poofy headphones to block out the noise. I got some rather expensive headphones that are excellent at blocking out the noise and they sound great. During the few moments I had to take them off to talk to the crew about drinks or food made me realize just how noisy those planes are. Then I put my headphones back on and re-enter my own little world.
What also helps in staying in my own happy little world is not far from you idea of getting sedated and tossed in as cargo. I make sure to bring my prescription pain meds with me. Not that I think I'll be in pain, the calming effect of a narcotic keeps me sane. I perhaps, just maybe, forget when I took my last pill and take another just in case. Add in some over the counter stuff and I'm in la-la land for the duration of the flight.
I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
Only if you aren't paying enough for the 'better' classes.
or consistently flying crappy airlines.
I'm looking forward to a Singapore Airlines flight from Perth to London later this week. 5.5 hours PER-SIN, 14 hours SIN-LHR. It doesn't bother me as much because it's Singapore. Good food, 19" wide seats in economy, top notch service and good IFE's as well as 30 KG checked luggage IN ECONOMY with no Krisflyer status (I've got Krisflyer Silver so I get an extra 10 KG on top of that).
Its only really US/Western airlines that practice the whole "sit down, strap in and shut up" school of running an airline, even flying COPA to South America was positively brilliant in comparison.
In fact, Singapore is the only frequent flyer program I actually am a member of.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
There was an anonymous post, which seems to now have been down voted to zero, so you probably aren't seeing it now. Just adjust the post filter level to see it.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
Some of us (e.g. anyone who works for the federal government and many federal contractors) are required to use the cheapest available tickets. It's not like we have a choice. The airlines, in pursuing lower base ticket prices at the expense of even minimal service, have completely screwed us, because we have to buy them.
I'm very tall (2 m) and regular economy seats are, quite literally, torture. I succeeded in convincing my organization to let me upgrade to Economy Plus (or the equivalent) by claiming that, for me, it's an ergonomics issue. But it took months of fighting.
Why did you take the train? There's flights going from Rotterdam to Barca. Better airport too.
Religion is what happens when nature strikes and groupthink goes wrong.
Four inches is the difference between having a tray that you can actually use when the person in front of you leans back, and one you can't. And, in your case, it will now allow you to be fully erect.
Just another day in Paradise
What I can't understanding is how anything you kept inside your seat would be accessible in-flight. There isn't enough room *now* to stand up, extract a bag, pull something out of it...which you'd have to hold while trying to stuff the bag back into the bin.
wg
The injection however, would make the whole thing more expensive and/or risky.
Depends, do you prefer the Jack Daniels, or the hot beef injection?
Just another day in Paradise
...socks (yes I always take them off for comfort and perfusion) under the seat. I don't see a problem with that.
Maybe, but if I'm stuck next to you, I'm fucked. If I complain, then you think I'm an ass. And if I don't, I stuck seeing/smelling your stinky ugly feet.
Shoes (if there's no odor), okay. Socks, you've gone too far.
Just another day in Paradise
Was funny when I first heard it, 30 years ago.
There's flights going from Rotterdam to Barca. Better airport too.
Same reason I'm defending the airlines. Cost. It wasn't worth spending twice as much money for the trip for my girlfriend, and since this started as a corporate trip I was restricted with airline choice.
That's one thing I will be critical of airlines. Pricing models are inconsistent. KLM is cheaper to take in peak periods than Transavia, but more expensive during off peak. Iberia airlines was cheaper than a Vueling flight from Valencia to Amsterdam even though both options were using the same physical plane.