http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2010-09-10-airlinestanding10_ST_N.htm?se=yahooreferBy Charisse Jones, USA TODAY
Think your seat in coach is cramped? Take a look at the SkyRider.
The new airplane seat, to be unveiled next week
at the Aircraft Interiors Expo Americas conference in Long Beach, would
give passengers an experience akin to riding horseback.
They'd sit at an angle with no more than 23
inches between their perch and the seat in front of them — a design that
could appeal to low-cost airlines that have floated the idea of
offering passengers standing-room tickets on short flights.
The SkyRider isn't headed for an airplane cabin
just yet. But its designer, Aviointeriors, an aircraft seat design firm
based in Latina, Italy, says several airlines, including some in the
U.S., have expressed interest.
"We feel extremely confident that this concept
will ... have great appeal to airlines for economic purposes," says
Dominique Menoud, director general of Aviointeriors Group.
The SkyRider could be its own class of seating,
like business or coach, Menoud says. Passengers would likely pay lower
fares. But airlines could boost their profits because the narrowly
spaced seats would allow them to squeeze more fliers on board.
"For flights anywhere from one to possibly even
up to three hours ... this would be comfortable seating," he says. "The
seat ... is like a saddle. Cowboys ride eight hours on their horses
during the day and still feel comfortable in the saddle."
The novel design may draw interest — especially
from two overseas carriers that have entertained the idea of providing
no seats at all.
Ryanair,
the Irish low-cost carrier that has set trends such as charging for
in-flight meals, has said it would let passengers stand during flights
if the Irish Aviation Authority would allow it.
And last year,
Spring Airlines,
a low-cost carrier in China, tried to get the OK from regulators to
redesign its planes to accommodate some standing passengers.
But Gaetano Perugini, Aviointeriors' director of
research and development who created the SkyRider, emphasizes that the
firm isn't proposing that passengers be on their feet.
"Even though the (distance between seats) is
extremely narrow, we are talking about seats, not about ... having
passengers simply standing on the floor," he says. "You are sitting on a
special seat, but it is a seat."
The seats will offer storage space as well, including a shelf for carry-on bags, and hooks to hang a jacket or purse.
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If a carrier commits to installing the new seats,
Aviointeriors will apply to European aviation authorities and those in
the United States for proper certification, Menoud says.
Les Dorr, a spokesman for the
Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates air travel in the U.S., says he's not familiar with the SkyRider's particular design.
However, he says, "While it's not impossible,
it's difficult to conceive of a standing seat that would be able to meet
all applicable
FAA requirements and still be cost-effective."