Happy holidays!
I can see again!
It occurs to me I tend to post very long
things so I'm going to start breaking topics up into shorter posts, next week.
This week, it's about Airbus.
Airbus, an airplane manufacturer that
sells its productive primarily to non-U.S. companies, has introduced wider
seats on its planes in the hopes of increasing revenue and comfort. Instead of
the standard 17-inch-wide seats, Airbus is pushing to make 18-inch-wide seats
the new standard(1) as well as introduce a 20-inch-wide seat for
passengers who require more room(2). The 20-inch-wide seat was
introduced on one specific model, the A320 passenger aircraft. Long-haul,
international flights appear to be the current target for this new standard,
but Airbus hopes to break into the U.S. market with these more comfortable seats
and out compete Boeing (it's main competitor) through word of mouth and social
media marketing(3).
Obviously, the larger the seat the higher
the cost, but with airplanes feeling smaller and more cramped, Airbus is
convinced people are willing to pay a little extra for more comfort.
The really interesting thing here is that
Airbus is marketing it's 20-inch-wide seat (of which there are only two, each
an aisle seat, forcing the remaining two seats in the row to be 17-inch-wide
seats) as available to anyone who would like to pay for it. They market it as a
seat for extra comfort, acknowledging that their passengers are bigger and
taller, but also that it might be useful for parents with small children on
their laps.
They released a video to the international
aircraft community describing the 17-17-20 arrangement: http://www.aircraftinteriorsinternational.com/wide_seat_video.php
So, it's not quite what I had in mind but
it's a start.
What I would like to see, because Airbus
is using a sleep study from the London Sleep Centre(1) to tout the health benefits of their
18-inch-wide seats, is whether or not these seats benefit the health of larger
passengers or if that benefit is limited to those who didn't "need"
the extra space. None of the articles I found discussed leg room, either, so
how do these new seats address that problem? Also, is 18 inches really enough
for American passengers who would otherwise have to purchase an extra seat? Is
20 inches?
This brings me to the end of this post but
I think I'll look into the health effects of flying across the country or
internationally frequently or at all. Considering this is a largely sedentary,
cramped, stressful situation endured by largely sedentary, stressed
individuals, I would imagine short term effects would exist, especially if the
stress response is allowed to persist for the entire flight. Add in the effects
of obesity and, well, I guess I'll have to get back to that next week.
Cheers,
J. G.
1) Petroff, Alanna. October 28, 2013. Airbus
calls for wider seats on long flights.
Accessed 12/15/13. Retrieved from: http://money.cnn.com/2013/10/28/news/companies/airbus-wider-seats/
2) Francis, Enjoli. May 25, 2012. Airbus to offer extra wide
seats on new planes. Accessed 12/30/13.
Retrieved from:
3) Saporito, Bill. November 2, 2013. Airbus
is Trying to Convince Airlines to Make
More Room for Your … Behind. Accessed 12/30/13/ Retrieved from: http://business.time.com/2013/11/02/airbus-is-trying-to-convince-airlines-to-make-more-room-for-your-behind/
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