http://www.newser.com/story/100256/airli....

Quote:

A new airline seat has riders straddling a saddle-like cushion, with just 23 inches of space between them and passenger in front of them, USA Today reports. The SkyRider, in which passengers are somewhere between standing and sitting, will be unveiled at an industry conference next week. Maker Aviointeriors hopes airlines—it says several are interested—will sell the seats at reduced prices, as a class below coach.

see link for picture and more text

And that will effectively kill my air travel, unless I own my own plane in the future.

Can't we just stow ourselves in the overhead compartment?

Eventually High Speed Rail will make more sense than flying from L.A. to San Fran

Welcome to the friendly skies!

Etz, thanks for sharing.

Hmmm, well, it looks like the ladies will certainly enjoy their flight!

That's got "banned by the ADA" written all over it.

not me!

Boz- it said 'saddle' not Sybian.

Quote:

says a company official. "The seat is like a saddle. Cowboys ride eight hours on their horses during the day and still feel comfortable.

Said company official has never ridden a horse.

I'll never fly again.

With all the bull**** you have to endure to fly these days (TSA, naked body scanners), I'm never flying again. I love road trips anyway.

Best comment from the story:

Please, only 23" of space? Have you seen Americans?

newser.com wrote..

Aviointeriors hopes airlines—it says several are interested—will sell the seats at reduced prices, as a class below coach.

This race to the bottom is really starting to get to me. I'm flying to Germany tomorrow (exhibiting at a trade show next week). Tickets cost ~$750. I would happily have paid 2-3x that "business class" or similar, but the cheapest you can get that is around $5k, which is simply outrageous.

If those new seats catch on, I predict they will be priced just below coach fares now, an what we now consider coach seating will go way up.

-Uwe-

Maybe they just just install symbians for all the women. I'm sure they'd pay extra. :P

Quote:

In theory, they'd make up that money and far more by being able to jam more people in their planes.

I guess factors like "fully loaded aircraft weight" are no longer considerations.

John Madden was way ahead of his time.

Quote:

I guess factors like "fully loaded aircraft weight" are no longer considerations.

On shorter flights such as the 1-3 hour legs that these are targeting, gross weight is typically not much of a factor because the aircraft doesn't need to carry much fuel.

-Uwe-

Maybe they can motorize them so they can rock back and forth with the flick of a switch. That way passengers can entertain themselves with makeshift mechanical bull riding contests while their flight is delayed.

"Eventually High Speed Rail will make more sense than flying from L.A. to San Fran

"

No, not really. It's just another boondoggle that will go nowhere after bleeding off billions of dollars. A plane can get you there in four hours at the most from The City if one takes seriously that guff about being an hour and half early for the flight.

"No, not really. It's just another boondoggle that will go nowhere after bleeding off billions of dollars. A plane can get you there in four hours at the most from The City if one takes seriously that guff about being an hour and half early for the flight."

Keep telling yourself that.

That way, in 2 years when I can travel from Beijing to Hong Kong in 8 hours, (and not have to deal with the airport security and the hours it will waste), you can gloat about all the money America saved on TGV boondoggles.

I foresee a huge future in Americans trying to convince themselves and the rest of the world how everyone else is moving backwards and wasting money as America falls farther and farther behind. In this regard many on TF are the leaders.

Beijing to Hong Kong is 4 times the distance and probably a much more significant route. And with poor public transportation on either end (especially the LA end), why would you go through the hassle? It's a 1 hour flight.

It wouldn't be a waste of money IF we didn't already know that 300% of the already-bloated labor cost would get siphoned off in corruption.

.

1-3 hour flights are targeted? Most aircraft flying that length of time are regional jets - 50 to 70 seat aircraft.
Those seats aren't going to happen in the US anytime soon. Regional jets are already tight on space and weight limited.
And airlines aren't going to upguage to 737s anytime soon on those routes - they want to maintain frequency between city pairs to give business travelers multiple options.

japan loading: from the yellow stripes that is the sobu line, the local across central tokyo. i lived on it for 19 years, which is why i set up the office so i could walk to work.

last year moved four stops but still walk to work. of course, depopulation is improving the space available daily here.

If you fly like this, you really shouldn't be...