U.K. design firm PriestmanGoode has announced a design series called Pure Skies that presupposes the need to change airline seating to increase passenger separation and assure frequent travelers that they’re sitting on disinfected thrones. According to the company, “‘Pure Skies’ includes a complete review of Business and Economy Class cabins and addresses pressing consumer, business and environmental concerns.”
“This latest work from the studio represents pragmatic innovation. With the benefit of over 30 years’ experience, we know how to harness design to achieve long-term positive change,” says Nigel Goode, co-founding director at PriestmanGoode. “We’ve looked ahead to imagine future scenarios and taken into account new passenger behaviours driven by the global pandemic to ensure our designs can be implemented within a few years and will meet user and airline requirements for many years ahead.”
In this design presentation, PriestmanGoode offers features new to the economy class, including dividing screens every other row for greater separation, a staggered seat configuration to “maximize feeling of personal space and allow passengers to sit in the
groups they are travelling in” and other features to reduce dirt buildup. Also, the inflight entertainment screens are no more, as is the seat-back tray, replaced by a “clip-on
meal tray direct from the trolley.”
Good says that “With both passengers and airline employees at the heart of this project, we have not only taken onboard present anxieties but also tried to ensure our solutions are future-proofed against future pandemics, recognising the significant commitment and
investment involved.”
Well, Business Class doesn’t look too bad, assuming of course that one can afford it. Economy Class… another story entirely. Hard to tell from a photo with no context but it sure doesn’t look like much leg room. Bet those seats do NOT recline either. So combine the possibility of no recline, no arm rests on the end of the rows, and what looks like almost no seat padding and a 14 hour jaunt from JFK to DXB or SYD to LHR would be just the crowd pleaser! With the direction that passenger comfort is taking, I am sure glad that I don’t have to ride on these things anymore.
Well, Business Class doesn’t look too bad, assuming of course that one can afford it. Economy Class… another story entirely. Hard to tell from a photo with no context but it sure doesn’t look like much leg room. Bet those seats do NOT recline either. So combine the possibility of no recline, no arm rests on the end of the rows, an apparently over-large head rest jutting out, and what looks like almost no seat padding and a 14 hour jaunt from JFK to DXB or SYD to LHR would be just the crowd pleaser! With the direction that passenger comfort is taking, I am sure glad that I don’t have to ride on these things anymore.
From their description:
“Seats in the Pure Skies Zone recline. The mechanism for this is entirely contained within the fabric skin of the seat to avoid split lines and hard-to-clean gaps”
Those economy seats are supposed to INCREASE passenger separation? Still looks like sardines in a can to me 😒
OMG, those seats look like NYC subway car seats.. That will surely get people back to flying again.
Well, a non-reclining seat would be okay if the seat back was set at something comfortable rather than the unpleasant vertical arrangement of current seats. It would also eliminate the frequent arguments about someone reclining too far into another passengers space. A fixed seat and no trays would relieve the flight attendants from having to walk through and pester passengers to stow the trays and put seats upright for landing. But, I wonder if the seats and partitions would have any effect on emergency evacuations? Also, current seats have removable cushions for a reason. It allows cleaning crews to pull up soiled or damaged cushions and quickly replace them during turnaround.
Priestman Goode’s concepts sound nice, but in practice, a plane’s seats take a real beating from the passengers on high volume carriers. I question whether many carriers would opt for this type of arrangement.
And what about “seat cushions as flotation devices?”
Damn Yars, there you go being practical again! 😉