#HTE

Are Airplanes with “Fat Seats” Coming?

Here’s a tricky question: Let’s say you are a flight attendant in charge of assigning seats to passengers based on their physical size, with the goal of maximizing passengers’ comfort. The rows are three seats across. You’ve got at least three passengers who are large and heavyset. Do you stick these larger passengers all in the same row, where they are wedged up against one another? Or do you distribute them next to smaller passengers, with the larger passengers spilling over into the smaller passengers’ space, reducing the comfort of the smaller passenger in favor of the larger passenger?

Most airlines wouldn’t go near this question with a ten-foot pole and are happy to let the random nature of ticket booking take care of it. Canadian manufacturer Bombardier Aerospace, however, has provided their answer via design. Their new C-Series medium-range jets features middle seats—that is, the seats between the window and the aisle—that are “up to 2 inches wider” than the seats to either side:

At first it might not be obvious that they are different sizes, particularly if you look at the seatbacks, which I believe are identical. But take a look at the lengthwise stitching on the seat bottoms and you’ll see that the center seat bottom appears significantly wider than the bottoms of the seats to either side.

This raises all sorts of interesting questions. The first is if airlines will charge more for wider seats. The second is, how will these seats be marketed? For instance, will larger passengers be encouraged to book them? Thirdly: Do you reckon other airlines will follow suit?

Lastly: Any of you brave souls want to answer the questions posed in the first paragraph?

http://www.core77.com/posts/54594/Are-Airplanes-with-Fat-Seats-Coming