Airline seat

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Business class seat in a Lufthansa Boeing 747-400

Control screen fixed to the back side of an economy class airline seat (Airbus), the tray is stowed

Airline seats are chairs on an airliner in which passengers are accommodated for the duration of the journey. Such seats are usually arranged in rows running across the airplane's fuselage. A diagram of such seats in an aircraft is called an airline seat map.

[edit] Features and amenities

On the oldest of planes, seats were armchairs which stood loosely in the cabin, but moving furniture in the aircraft is a safety hazard, and seats are now fastened to the floor. However, airlines usually want the flexibility to move seats around or remove them, so the seats are typically attached to rails underneath the floor which run along the aircrafts fuselage. If the airline wants to reconfigure the seating, this is a fairly minor operation.

For passenger safety, airline seats are equipped with seatbelts, and there is a "fasten seatbelts" sign above each seat which is lit up when passengers are expected to remain seated with the seatbelt fastened. This is typically during take-off and landing, although turbulence may also prompt the captain to turn on this sign.

Seats are frequently equipped with further amenities. Airline seats are frequently equipped with a reclining mechanism for increased passenger comfort, a tray in the seatback which folds down to form a small table, and a pocket which may contain an in-flight magazine and a "safety on board" manual. Seats may be equipped with power ports for small electrical appliances and ports for headphones for the audio entertainment. Some airlines, in particular on longer journeys, and in the higher-fare seats of business class, place TV-screens in the back of each seat as part of the In-flight Entertainment system. Another feature often seen in first-class cabins are seats which recline to a flat position, forming a bed.

On small and short-haul aircraft, or on low-cost carriers, some of these amenities may not be installed. For instance, on several aircraft Ryanair has installed non-reclining seats without seat pockets with the safety manuals stitched to the seat back instead.^[1] Even on airliners with reclining seats, some seats may have a restricted recline or no recline. Typically this will be the rear row of the cabin where a rear bulkhead blocks the recline, or seats immediately in front of the emergency exit where a reclined seat might restrict access to the emergency exit, creating a potential safety hazard. Independent seat review sites such as SeatGuru and LoveMySeat often warn passengers against these seats. During take-off and landing the crew ask passengers to put their seats in an "upright" (unreclined) position^[2] and to lift and stow their tray tables.

[edit] Seating layout

2+4+2 seating layout on a wide body jet

3+3 seating layout on a narrow body jet

Airline cabins are frequently classified as narrow-body if there is a single aisle with seats on either side, or wide-body if there are two aisles with a block of seats between them in addition to the seats on the side.

The number of seats abreast is affected by the aircrafts width. On very small aircraft such as the Beechcraft 1900 there are only individual seats on each side of the aisle (1+1 seating). The widest narrow body aircraft such as the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 have six abreast seating in a 3+3 layout. Asymmetrical layouts also exist, the Embraer Regional Jets have 1+2 seating while the Douglas DC-9 aircraft typically feature 2+3 seating.

On wide body-aircraft the center block of seats between the aisles can have as many as 5 seats on planes like the layout on some McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and Boeing 777 aircraft, although Boeing recommends the 3+3+3 over the 2+5+2 layout.^[3] Very wide planes such as the Boeing 747 have ten seats abreast, typically in a 3+4+3 layout.

Window seats are located at the sides of the aircraft, and usually next to a window, although some aircraft have seat rows where there is a window missing. Window seats are preferred by passengers who want to have a view, or a wall which they can lean against. Passengers in seats adjacent to the aisle have the advantage of being able to leave the seat without having to clamber over the other passengers, and having an aisle they can stretch their legs into. If a seat block has three or more seats, there will also be middle seats which are unpopular because the passenger is sandwiched between two other passengers without advantages of either window or aisle seats.^[4] Middle seats are typically booked last.^[5]

On most commercial aircraft, seats are forward facing. There are exceptions. On military aircraft seats are frequently rearward facing. Southwest Airlines previously offered a few such seats on some aircraft, rearward facing seats are also common on business jets to provide a "conference" type layout. It has been argued that rearward facing seats are safer because in the event of a crash, the sudden deceleration will propel the passenger into a rearward facing seat instead of out of it. The force is therefore distributed over the entire seat back, instead of the straps of the seat belt. The argument against such seats has been based on passenger comfort, safety and cost. Comfortwise, an argument against rearward seats has been that passengers who desire the natural layout of forward facing seats may be uncomfortable with a rearward layout. On the safety aspect, the argument has been that during a plane crash, debris such as luggage, will fly forward in the cabin, quite possibly into the passengers in rearward facing seats. On the cost aspect, rearward facing seats need additional strengthening which adds extra weight and therefore higher costs.^[6]

[edit] Seat size

When evaluating the size (and comfort) of a seat, typical terms used are pitch and width. Seat pitch is the distance between the seat rows. Typically this is in the order of 30 inches, for most U.S. carriers the pitch in economy class is 31 or 32 inches. More seat pitch usually means more legroom, but this is also affected by the thickness of the seat back, airliners have claimed that the reduction of seat pitch from 33-34 inches down to 31-32 inches is compensated by the thinner seat backs.^[7] Seat width is the distance from armrest to armrest, in Economy class this is typically around 17 inches.^[8] Staggered seating can increase seat pitch.^[9]

[edit] Material

Airline seats are designed to be lightweight, but at the same time strong and fire resistant, while also taking into account passenger comfort. A typical design is an aluminium frame with blocks of urethane foam attached to it. A layer of fire-resistant fabric, for instance Kevlar, goes over this, and at the top is a layer of cloth or leather.^[10]

Leather seats are more costly than traditional cloth seats. Even so, several airliners, including low cost carriers, choose leather not only to present a more "luxurious" product, but also because such seats are easier to clean and prevent spilt liquids from soaking through to the padding.^[11]

[edit] Colour

In the fairly early days of aviation airline seats were typically of earthly and soft colours such as light browns and gray, intended to calm the passengers. During the 1970s brighter colours such as red and orange became more commonplace. After this shades of blue and gray, with a more business-like tone, have become the most common choice.^[12]

[edit] Standing room alternative to seats

In April 2006, the New York Times reported that Airbus was considering offering an option with standing room instead of seats.^[13] Instead of a chair, the passenger would be strapped onto a cushioned backboard. Such an arrangement would be allowable by FAA regulations which require all passengers to be "secured" but not necessarily "seated".^[14] However, Airbus vehemently denied the report.^[15]

[edit] Auxiliary

Controls, lights and nozzles (Boeing 737)

At the back side of each seat, in rare cases at a wall upfront, several devices are provided for comfort and information such as a stowable tray, a bag and in most cases screens. Theses appear upfront of the using passenger. In addition, above the seat are nozzles, lights for reading, lights for information provided by the pilot, controls for calling the flight attendant, switches to turn on or off the reading lights and control the individual air flow.

At window seats there are window shields for protection of sun light. They have to be slided up during landings and takeoffs by law. The reason for that is the providing of visibility into the aircraft at emergencies. Many armrests provide ashtrays, devices for reclining and controls of in-flight entertainment systems.

[edit] Manufacturers

A important manufacturer of airline seats is the German company Recaro.

[edit] References