Take A Look At The Future Of Economy Airline Seating

Contorting your body to fit into cramped economy class airline seats is bad enough without the person seated in front of you invading your space. Reclining seats have been a point of contention amongst fliers for years and as seat pitch gets smaller, the problem has only gotten worse with some passengers even coming to blows over the issue.

Other passengers take a more passive aggressive approach. Remember this traveler who took matters into his own hands and rigged the seat in front of him so it would stay in the upright position? Or what about the Knee Defender, the invention we told you about last year, which is designed to keep airline seats from reclining?

Well, finally, someone has come up with a solution to the seat reclining dramas. The AirGo is an economy class seat designed by an engineering student for the James Dyson Award. Alireza Yaghoubi took first prize for his design concept, which aims to give fliers control over their limited seat space, even when the passenger in front of them reclines.The seats are designed with individual bulkheads, so each passenger has their own area to stow luggage. Suspended from this are the tray table and TV screen, which aren’t affected if fellow passengers recline. The seats themselves are made of a nylon mesh designed to minimize sweating and are fully customizable to suit each traveler’s posture.

While the seating concept does take up 16 percent more space than a regular economy class seat, hopefully the benefits will sway airlines to get onboard.

Check out pictures of the AirGo seat below.

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[Photo credit: Alireza Yaghoubi]

No Frills Airline: 1970s Sitcom Predicts The Future Of Air Travel



Do you think economy class passengers deserve better treatment? Apparently, they also did in the 1970s. This 10 minute clip from the Carol Burnett Show pokes fun at the differences between the ambiance of business class/first class and economy, also known as the “No Frills Section.” While outlandish – hopefully you’ve never been kicked by a stewardess for putting your feet on the floor, had to use a rope as a seat belt or been forced to exit the plane midair – it does have some relevance. And, as Boarding Area points out, the show even anticipated all the extra charges fliers incur. While the video is a little long, it’s definitely worth a look for a good laugh.

Five indicators of the airline industry’s future: start with first and business class

Airlines are getting a little lucky. The big bucks and wider margins that come from first- and business-class fares are coming in faster than the nickels and dimes from economy class. This will delight the various airline industry employees who think that passengers aren’t paying enough, and it’s also a growth indicator.

According to the International Air Transport Association, an industry trade group, year-over-year growth slowed down in August relative to previous months, though this is due in part to the fact that August 2009 was the first month of the industry’s recovery, setting a higher bar for year-over-year growth than in the few months prior.

Nonetheless, airline sector growth is slowing down a bit, and not just because of the higher base in August for relative measurement. The total number of passengers traveling fell a little over 1 percent from July to August this year.

In August, first- and business-class passenger traffic surged 9.1 percent, following a 13.8 percent jump in July. Behind the special curtain that separates the elite from the proletariat, passenger traffic climbed 6.2 percent in August, following 8.8 percent in July.

So, where is the airline industry going this year? Here are five indicators to watch:

1. According to IATA‘s 230 members, demand for premium travel is up 17 percent relative to 2009 … but 99 percent of that hit in the first quarter of 2010.

2. Premium-class travel has leveled off since the end of Q1, but it’s uncertain if this is only a temporary state.

3. Business confidence is still positive, but it is inching downward. Premium markets remain 11 percent below the early 2008 peak, MSNBC reports.

4. Leisure travelers are even trying to help, with total economy travel up 11 percent from the depths it hit in 2009.

5. Month-over-month stagnation now may not say much about the future, according to IATA. Leading indicators point to growth of 5 percent to 6 percent a year.

[photo by Let Ideas Compete via Flickr]

Designing Air New Zealand’s new long haul configurations

Air New Zealand‘s marketing team is well underway promoting their new cabin configurations that we reported on earlier this year. The designs, which our very own Kent Wien covered in a series of on-the-ground dispatches, are set to vastly improve the business class and coach experiences, with redesigned business class cabins and lie-flat sections implemented in economy.

The highly dramatic version of the design process is summed up in the Youtube video below. We can’t wait to take the new configurations for a spin.


[Via Mike Lee]

March is Deep-Vein Thrombosis awareness month

March 2010 is the seventh annual Deep-Vein Thrombosis awareness month.

DVT is sometimes referred to as “economy class syndrome” because the cramped airplane cabin often prevents people from getting the movement they need to prevent blood clots.

Of course, airplanes are not the only place where DVT can be a problem – even desk workers or people bedridden can be in danger.

The Coalition to Prevent DVT has put together a collection of videos that raise awareness of the dangers of DVT, and help people understand the basic steps they can take to prevent DVT.

The videos can be watched online, or downloaded for transfer to your portable media player.

The dangers of DVT are very real – the spokesperson of the Coalition to Prevent DVT lost her husband, NBC News correspondant David Bloom from complications of DVT while covering the war in Iraq.

So, do yourself a favor and devote a small part of your day to watching these videos and learning how to combat DVT. Your knowledge can also help others so forward the information to anyone you know that is regularly stuck in a cramped airplane seat.