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No sitting matter: Airbus bats for comfy seats
The event opens today and before the show, Airbus has started a row with competitors Boeing over economy-class seat size on long-distance flights.
Leading planemakers Airbus and Boeing always compete for aircraft orders during airshows, but this time at the Dubai Airshow there is a dispute on the width of seats as well.
The event opens today and before the show, Airbus has started a row with competitors Boeing over economy-class seat size on long-distance flights.
Air travel has changed significantly over the last 60 years and a 17-inch seat size is a substandard comfort level for economy class passengers, top Airbus officials told reporters at a media briefing in Dubai on Saturday.
“One inch in seat size matters a lot. We need to see the end of these 17-inch ‘crusher’ seats and improve the future comfort of long haul economy air travel,” Airbus head of passenger comfort Kevin Keniston emphasised again and again at the media briefing and said an 18-inch seat size is acceptable and makes a lot of difference. Keniston mentioned that compared to 60 years before, more and more passengers were flying further for longer distances. The industry is now 50 times bigger than when the 707 was introduced and 10 times bigger than when the 747 was introduced, he explained.
“If the aviation industry doesn’t take a stand right now, then we risk jeopardising passenger comfort into 2040 and beyond,” he said, adding that most modern wide-body aircraft ordered today will be delivered only by the end of the decade and likely be in service into 2040. This means another generation will be consigned to seats which are based on 1960 standards.
He said economy class passengers are important, so there is a need to take care of them taking long flights.
Providing statistics, he said 70 per cent of economy class passengers travel for business, 74 per cent book their own flights, 41 per cent would pay for more comfort and 89 per cent of economy passengers use social media and share their perceptions with their network. Giving an example from the first-of-its-kind research conducted by the London Sleep Centre, he said it was revealed that a minimum seat width of 18 inches improved passenger sleep quality by 53 per cent.
“Asked about their next trips, nearly 90 per cent of surveyed passengers said they would think more carefully about seat comfort in the future and about one third said that they referred to specialized websites to check seat sizes before they purchase their next flight,” he said.
Earlier, Airbus vice-president of Product Strategy and Market Forecast Chris Emerson said that there has been lot of discussion about the wide body segment — and possible gaps or “holes” in this segment, but the reality is that that’s not the case.
“The Airbus product family, considering the market needs, there is no gap,” he added.
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