Illustrations courtesy of World Intellectual Property Organization.
The Verge is reporting today that there is an "evil plane seat design would ruin whatever good remains of air travel." Zodiac Seats France has patented the "Economy Class Cabin Hexagon," with the World Intellectual Property Organization. The big innovation, as you can see from the diagram above, is that the middle seats are turned around and are facing backwards.
Is this a brilliant step forward in plane design or the latest signal of the coming travel Armageddon? TravelPulse's Tom Bastek and Tim Wood step into the octagon to debate the hexagon.
TOM BASTEK, STAFF WRITER: Far more positives than negatives
The Verge brings up that in this configuration, hands would be touching and that heaven forbid someone had to get up to go to the bathroom it would be horrible. But there is a whole other side to this that is absolutely wonderful: More arm and chest room.
As a fairly broad person (I wear a 52" jacket), the biggest problem for broad people is that their torso "overflows" into the seats next to them. So in order to affect your seatmates the least amount, you have to squish your arms together in front of you to make yourself as small as possible. Do that for four hours, and no doubt you are cramping.
Here's the full design video:
This seating arrangement solves that. It allows a passenger to hang over into the space occupied by nothing. Now it doesn't look like there is much room or reclining, but who cares? No one likes people reclining into them anyway. And hands touch right now when you are sharing an armrest with your neighbor as it is. That is not a big deal.
The Verge also says that now, "your in-flight infotainment screen will be supplemented with persistent eye contact from your neighbors." Actually, you might have a conversation with your seatmate now and maybe have a more social experience.
Plus for families traveling together, this makes things like playing cards a real possibility now. And as far as getting up to go to the bathroom? Well it sucks right now and this configuration doesn't really make it any worse.
So let's get this through the approved channels and get it out there! Ryanair, you guys are always doing crazy things, why not give this one a shot!
TIM WOOD, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Nothing but a vacuum-sealed suckfest
When I first saw this new cabin design from Zodiac Seats France, I actually thought that was a pretty interesting solution to solving the middle seat conundrum. I grew up with three older sisters, so I was forever forced to be squished in the uncomfortable middle seat with the seatbelt clickers poking at my kibbles and bits. So anything to solve the middle seat issue is forward thinking.
And I, like my colleague, am a bit beefy, so I am very self conscious about the "overflow." This, in theory, creates more breathing space there.
But the more I looked at this hexagon pattern, the more incensed I got. Here's the thing. This design will be on a commercial airplane within three years. I all but guarantee it. It has all the trappings of squeezing every ounce of square footage out of the cabin for airlines to realize every ounce of profit they can.
This is not a completely new design. I've rode on many a Metro North commuter train with the middle seat guy with the four-seat design with two people staring at the other two. And I hated it.
Yes, sharing the armrest is a pain, but at least we're not looking at each other directly. And we don't have arms directly pointing at our fellow passengers' privates.
There's tweaking that needs to be done here, because it's a sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen.
The Verge writers bring up a great point about getting up to go to the bathroom. There's literally no logistical easy way to make that happen without folks getting up. That happens a lot of the time with the current three-seater design, so it's not a dealbreaker for the airlines, I'd imagine.
Tom raises a great point in terms of playing cards or games with your kids. It gives us parents that option now.
My real problem comes in staring at strangers. As uncomfortable as the middle seat is, at least you're not constantly freaked out by the scary dude that won't stop staring. Or for women, the creepy perv that won't stop staring at your chest.
Glass-half-full folks might say this will create more interaction and promote harmony on the flights. I just don't see it. And most of the time, I don't want to make friends on a flight. Nowadays, the U.S. economy flying experience is all about survival. Put on the headphones, zone out and simply survive the cramped quarters.
My friends kid all the time that planes are becoming sardine containers. This literally invokes a visual of that space jam for me. One side of me says, "I wish I'd thought of that" because someone will make money off of this.
But my more dominant thought is this gives the airlines more ammo to pack us in like a vacuum-sealed storage bag.
The compromise here might be to incorporate this into a section of the plane, perhaps market it toward families specifically. But to make the entire cabin like this just wreaks of an air travel future I don't want to be part of.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
