Would you sit in THIS airline seat?

[luvmy3]

I wouldn't sit in a seat like that but I imagine there are people out there who would on a short commuter flight.
One thought is that if an airline puts those type of seats on their planes they will lose tix sales from families that have young children and babies who need to sit in a carseat on board. There is no way you could put a 2 year old on your lap in that seat.

 

[mickeysgal]

I'm 5'2" and my feet wouldn't touch the ground, so no.

Maybe it will come with stirrups for those that are shorter. Yee haw!

The cargo hold is looking good to me about now. I think I'd rather lay on the floor.

 

[Planogirl]

Maybe it will come with stirrups for those that are shorter. Yee haw!

The cargo hold is looking good to me about now. I think I'd rather lay on the floor.

Laying on the floor would take up too much space. You might be able to stand up however.

 

[palmtreegirl]

I would, if it was cheap enough.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

It would all depend on price and distance. If I could save $100 on a 30 minute flight, I'd consider it. If I could only save $15 on a there hour flight, I wouldn't.

Airlines give us the seat dimensions that we are willing to pay for. Despite all of their complaining, people have demonstrated over and over that they are unwilling to pay the extra cost it takes to have more leg room on planes. I suspect this new seat takes it too far for most people, but I'll wait to see how it does in the marketplace.

 

[bicker]

It's like the airlines are trying to do the best they can to make sure we don't even WANT to fly anymore.

Not really. Rather, they're understanding their customers, the American mass-market consumer, who has proven - through meaningful actions rather than meaningless words - that they're willing to accept a seemingly-unlimited amount of degradation of service quality in order to chase an incremental amount of cost-savings.

Besides lookin extremely uncomfortable, they also look dangerous.

The truth is probably the exact opposite. Most likely, many of the aspects of the current seating that makes it more comfortable than the seating depicted probably degrade the safety of the current seats, as compared to the seats depicted.

While it certainly doesn't look comfy - If the price were right, I'd be fine on a short flight maybe 1 1/2 hrs. But it would have to be a GREAT deal!

Yup, and that's the top of very reliable slippery-slope that could lead to large-scale and pervasive (read: even > 1 1/2 hours) deployment of such seating. No one wants to think that their own personal purchasing decision, motivated by a "great deal", could drive everything in this direction, nor does anyone want to think that what will be offered to them will be driven by the purchasing decisions that many other people make.

this has to be the dumbest airline seating idea i've ever seen...

Hardly. Similar things have been said about myriad changes to services offered in this country, the vast majority of which were not only accepted, but now many people don't even know that things used to be different. Just because we don't like something, doesn't mean it is "dumb". We mass-market consumers do things that, looking at it from outside, as much as we are able, cannot help but shake our own confidence in the species.

Really? Sorry, I'm pretty much of the opinion that we Yanks have a serious walmart mentality. As long as we get it cheap or free it can be absolute junk.

Right on-target.

 

[bicker]

Would I sit in this airline seat? NO!

Kind-of like, "Would I wait for a table at a restaurant, holding an electronic device that vibrates to beckon me, as if I were a dog, to go up to the teenage hostess, who will have some even-younger teenager show me to a table, when a table is ready for me?" (instead of having an appointed time, arriving at that time, being greeted by name, and being shown to that table by a veteran maître d').

We're apparently eminently adaptable.

I would if the ticket was no more than $ ...

Figure that the aim would be to replace price increases with this new seating. There would be an introductory period, during which prices will see a significant, though not substantial, decrease, but no more than would be justified by the added capacity that such seating affords the airline. Figure this will knock a $250 fare down to perhaps as little as $150, temporarily, and then after widespread acceptance, prices will return to their original trajectory.

The girl sitting in the seat doesn't look very comfortable. Her face says you're kidding, right?

Isn't that pretty much what models' faces look like all the time?

Not if I'm wearing a skirt.

Then don't wear a skirt, of course.

bingo... we all want the top-of-the-line stuff for the cheapest cost, and in the end, for the vast majority of us, cheap wins over quality

Again, absolutely on-target.

 

[bicker]

Airlines manage to make people so miserable in traditional seats for hours stuck on the tarmac, I can't imagine how badly they'd treat the low cost flyers of these.

I think part of the equation here is that it is getting to the point where it just isn't worth the risk investing your hard-earned money in an airline. There's been some bit of recovery, in the industry, but there are many who see it being short-lived. There really is no rule saying that operating an airline must be profitable, so without changes like this, figure that it just doesn't make sense trying anymore. Go back a couple of years and you'll see many folks, here on the DIS but also more generally, have been saying that there is simply too much capacity in the system, for long-term viability. This recovery has projected the perhaps-false notion that all these airlines could survive, but what is clear is that they've still got to do something about the structural problems, vis a vis costs versus revenues. I doubt that this will be the right answer, in the end, quite frankly, but the alternative - the right answer - is for a bunch more airlines to go out of business, and for the remaining airlines to not replace the lost capacity.

I think they're just putting this idea out there so that we'll start thinking, "hey, maybe those old coach class seats aren't so bad after all."

Very possible, and actually a very valid point if that is their message.

Not to doubt anyone here but the airline industry has been going south for quite a while and no one's stop flying yet?

Very good point.

 

[Hollywoodhaha]

I was wondering if these would be better suited for a cheap flight from like..one small town to a bigger one?

 

[Wishing on a star]

Looks like some kind of evil torture device...

Sickening!

Somebody tell me that this is some stupid Urban Myth...
They have GOT to be kidding!!!!

 

[bicker]

I seem to remember someone saying the same thing about having to pay to check baggage.

And before that, someone saying the same thing about the ending of meal service on all domestic flights.

And before that, someone saying the same thing about the removal of first class from practically all domestic flights.

And so on.

 

[eliza61]

I seem to remember someone saying the same thing about having to pay to check baggage.

And before that, someone saying the same thing about the ending of meal service on all domestic flights.

And before that, someone saying the same thing about the removal of first class from practically all domestic flights.

And so on.

And you know Bicker, I talk a good game but I gotta tell ya. I just paid over $800 bucks for my ticket to Paris this spring.

Now maybe I wouldn't go for it cross continents but airfare on Southwest from Philly to Orlando generally is ~170 bucks (after taxes, etc) if I catch a deal. Would I grab a seat like this if they offered it for 70 bucks? hummmm...


here's a video of the new seats.
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/airline-seats-promise-cramped-flight-11639435

this one's better

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/airplane-seat-squeeze-class-flying-11642214

Videos says it will allow a 737 to carry 50 extra people per flight. that's revenue folks.

 

[bicker]

now maybe i wouldn't go for it cross continents but airfare on southwest from philly to orlando generally is ~170 bucks (after taxes, etc) if i catch a deal. Would i grab a seat like this if they offered it for 70 bucks? hummmm...... Videos says it will allow a 737 to carry 50 extra people per flight. That's revenue folks.

$170*137=$23,290÷187=$124

 

[DisGirlAllie]

So, I just showed this thread to boyfriend. And the first thing he said was "wouldn't that be especially painful to guys?"

Hmm. never thought of that.

 

[Cin]

Absolutely not! They look terribly uncomfortable. And don't try to tell me they are "one size fits all"...

 

[bicker]

The current airline seats aren't equally comfortable for all, so why should new seats be?

 

[ckay87]

I would, if it was cheap enough.

I agree. It's not that I'm stingy, it's just that if I want something bad enough (like to visit my sister in FL more frequently), I'm willing to tough it out a little bit. Heck, I stood for 4 hours at a concert a few weeks back because it was worth it....to me. And we typically DRIVE to Florida. So yea, standing for 2 hours would actually be pretty cushy in comparison to driving for 18!