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Product
Published in Scott Ambrose, Blaise Waguespack, Fundamentals of Airline Marketing, 2021
Scott Ambrose, Blaise Waguespack
With respect to the seats themselves, it has been a tale of two cities with ever more luxury offered at the front of the plane and seating conditions in the back that have become ever more draconian. As documented in a popular journal article aptly named “Seat Wars,” airlines have been in an arms race to offer ever more extravagant seating toward the front of the plane, especially on long-haul flying (Karp, 2007). Starting with the first lie-flat seats offered by British Airways in 2000, airlines have continued to add extravagance including private suites in some cases. In the back of the plane, meanwhile, many airlines have pursued a seat densification strategy. This entails fitting more seats on existing aircraft. Considering that many of the larger costs including crew and fuel are largely fixed in the immediate term, by fitting more seats on a plane an airline has more opportunity to capture revenues with little escalation in incremental cost. Airlines can add seats by reducing seat pitch—the space between one seat and the same spot on the seat in front or behind. It seems that the minimum seat pitch that customers have been willing to tolerate is 28 inches even with several LCCs not willing to go this low.
Cabin and customisation
Published in Paul Clark, Buying the Big Jets, 2017
Before going further, it is useful to pause and reflect that the aircraft manufacturer does not control every aspect of the passenger or cabin experience. The manufacturer has control over the shape and width of the fuselage, the ceiling, overhead bins, the size and positioning of windows, window reveal and trim, sidewall and lighting, cabin pressurisation level and air quality. To this, one can add the design and location of toilets, galleys and rest facilities for the crew. However, it is the airline that decides upon the type and number of seats, and the all-important seat width and pitch. Seat pitch is the distance between a point on one seat and the same point on the seat immediately behind or in front. Passengers understandably clamour for more seat pitch and wider seats. For the airlines this obviously means fewer seats in the same space.
The Perfect Storm
Published in Joyce A. Hunter, Anger in the Air, 2016
Crowding aside, the seats themselves have become acutely painful to sit in. One factor we rarely think of until we’re forced to sit upright for hours on end is the “pitch” of our seat. According to an ABC.com news report, seat “pitch” is the distance between rows of seats, for example, between the front of your seat’s armrest and the same spot on the armrest of the seat in front of you. In a comfortable theater, they say: … you might enjoy a seat pitch of as much as 36 inches or 38 inches, and in the first-class cabin of most airliners you’ll have between 38 inches and 60 inches. But the average pitch of a coach seat in the average jetliner (regardless of who builds it) has been shrinking over the years, and while many carriers still keep their pitch at 32 inches to 33 inches, others have sneaked it down to as little as 28 inches, leaving their passengers in both perceived and actual agony.79
Occupant injury risk assessment and protective measures in frontal collision of a bus
Published in International Journal of Crashworthiness, 2019
Qian Peng, Tingting Sun, Pengpeng Zhu, Fenggang Han, Emmanuel Matsika, Mark Robinson
According to the occupant injury outcomes in different seat layouts, some suggestions for bus interior layouts are developed. These can also provide a reference for the safety standard of a bus structure to improve its passive safety, and strengthen the passenger protection. As part of a parametric study, three factors are considered. These are the seat pitch (D), height difference (A) and back inclination (α). Illustrated in Figure 6 is the seat. The seat pitch refers to the horizontal distance between a line on the front seat back and the adjacent rear seat at the level above the datum plane (the horizontal surface of heel and floor contact points), located 620 mm above the reference floor. The height difference refers to the distance between the top of front seat and that of rear seat. When the rear seat height is greater than the front seat height, it is positive, otherwise it is negative. The inclination angle refers to the angle between the centre line of the seating cushion and the centre line of the backrest.
Impact of biometric and anthropometric characteristics of passengers on aircraft safety and performance
Published in Transport Reviews, 2018
Damien J. Melis, Jose M. Silva, Richard C.K. Yeun
Cabin facilities and the environment have a major part in determining passenger comfort. Literature shows passengers experience comfort through anthropometric, physiological and psychological elements from their past flight experience (Ahmadpour, Lindgaard, Robert, & Pownall, 2014; Kremser, Guenzkofer, Sedlmeier, Sabbah, & Bengler, 2012). These elements have been explored by qualitative measures of crew service, in-flight amenities, cabin lighting/temperature, noise levels, odour and vibration (Greghi, Rossi, de Souza, & Menegon, 2013; Patel & D’Cruz, 2017; Vink, Bazley, Kamp, & Blok, 2012; Vink & van Mastrigt, 2011). A common denominator within the literature highlights how personal space plays a major role in perceived comfort. Legroom and other anthropometrical aspects of seat and cabin design can enhance passengers’ comfort or discomfort, particularly in long haul flights. The literature and media have highlighted that seat pitch has been decreasing over the decades, from an average of 35 inches in the 1970s to a current average of 30 inches. Recently the media drew attention to a bipartisan bill introduced in 2017 by USA senators to set minimum seat pitch standards (Vasel, 2017). Furthermore, the USA Federal Court in July of 2017 issued a ruling to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to develop minimum seat pitch standards (Levin, 2017; Wattles, 2017). Thus far only exit rows have a mandated seat pitch, primarily for ensuring safe egress in emergency situations.
The effects of seat width, load factor, and passenger demographics on airline passenger accommodation
Published in Ergonomics, 2019
Elizabeth L. Miller, Samuel M. Lapp, Matthew B. Parkinson
There are concerns that the reduction in both seat pitch and seat width pose safety and health issues. Constrained spaces that restrict mobility can be a factor in passengers developing conditions like deep vein thrombosis. The reduced space can also decrease the ability of passengers to quickly and safely disembark the plane in the event of an emergency. In response to these concerns, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was recently ordered to consider mandating minimum seating standards in passenger planes (Bromwich 2017).