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Thread: Airlines consider standing-room-only 'seats'


  1. #1
    Top Member randyrandy's Avatar
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    How about SRO from O'Hare to Hong Kong?

    By Christopher Elliott
    New York Times News Service
    Published April 25, 2006

    The airlines have come up with a new answer to an old question: How many passengers can be squeezed into economy class?

    A lot more, it turns out, especially if an idea still in the early stage should catch on: standing-room-only "seats."

    Airbus has been quietly pitching the standing-room-only option to Asian carriers, though none has agreed to it yet. Passengers in the standing section would be propped against a padded backboard, held in place with a harness, according to experts who have seen a proposal.

    But short of that option, carriers have been slipping another row or two of seats into coach by using stronger, lighter materials that allow for slimmer seat backs. The thinner seats theoretically could be used to give passengers more legroom but, in practice, the airlines have been keeping the amount of space between rows the same to accommodate additional rows.

    The result is an additional six seats on a typical Boeing 737 for a total of 156, and as many as 12 new seats on a Boeing 757 for a total of 200.

    The developments result from several factors. Higher fuel costs are making it difficult for carriers to turn a profit. The new seat technology alone, when used to add more places for passengers, can add millions in additional annual revenue. The new designs also reduce a seat's weight by up to 15 pounds, helping fuel consumption. A typical seat in economy class now weighs 74 to 82 pounds.

    While the airlines are trimming the size of the seat backs in coach, they are installing seats as thick and heavy as ever in first and business class and going to great lengths to promote them. That is because each passenger in such a seat can generate several times the revenue of a coach traveler.

    Randy - Nonrev Correspondent Chicago


  • #2
    Administrator Migflanker's Avatar
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    <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Randy:
    Passengers in the standing section would be propped against a padded backboard, held in place with a harness, according to experts who have seen a proposal. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

    Randy, this has to be a joke, passengers strapped to a board... where would you stow the under the seat luggage?

    Keep'em flying
    Keep'em Flying

    Migflanker - Senior NonRev Correspondent - Los Angeles

  • #3
    Top Member randyrandy's Avatar
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    Well, the airlines the reporters have spoken with all claim it's a true but an unlikely prospect and Airbus flatly denies any such discussions. So it's a case of 'he said, she said'.

    Randy - Nonrev Correspondent Chicago

  • #4
    Administrator Migflanker's Avatar
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    Please tell me that when first reading the line "Passengers in the standing section would be propped against a padded backboard, held in place with a harness...", that I wasn't the only one who thought of that scene in "Silence of the Lambs" where Hannibal Lector is strapped and straitjacketed onto a trolley.
    I wasn't was I?

    Keep'em flying
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    Migflanker - Senior NonRev Correspondent - Los Angeles

  • #5
    Top Member PNSnonrev's Avatar
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    Standing section may appeal to Nonrevs rather then being left at the gate all day, flight after flight. Remember when we used to ask smoking or non-smoking. Guess it will be sitting or standing next.

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    Super Moderator nonrev1's Avatar
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    <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">
    I wasn't was I? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

    Yep, Mig. It was only you!
    Chris Bagley (Nonrev Network Founder)

  • #7
    Administrator Migflanker's Avatar
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    Uh-huh!!!

    Keep'em flying
    Keep'em Flying

    Migflanker - Senior NonRev Correspondent - Los Angeles

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    i may be the only person on earth who read that & thought 'sign me up.' am sure you must think i'm insane, but due to turbulence, i have back fusions & other on the job injuries, & i only take strong pain meds when i have to sit on a plane, so i really had to laugh. i never imagined i would want to stand on a flight...but, then i'd also want enough space to stretch, so that knocks me out of their standing pool. what will they think of next??
    anybody know if they'd ever design the cabins with "stretchers" like a med-evac flight. people would pay for a flat space, i think, on long flights. stretchers are light & cheap. any engineers out there?

  • #9
    Administrator Migflanker's Avatar
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    <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by cocoyat:... what will they think of next?? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

    oooh, what about elevated sleeping compartments... of course they'll have to abolish carry-on luggage.

    Welcome to the board Cocoyat

    Keep'em flying
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    Migflanker - Senior NonRev Correspondent - Los Angeles

  • #10
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    Well well. HERE IS MY TWO CENTS ON THE SUBJECT. So you line up all NONREVS to the propped up position with a strap. Then what? The flight attendants come by with an UZI and spray us into swiss cheese? Uhu! That's what you get for being cheap bastads. Ask for a sandwich and a drink and I'll pour some boiling coffee down your throat. Try that again will ya?

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