The seemingly crazy 'sideways seating' idea tabled by Design Q - and reported by yours truly first (yes, even before FOX and countless other news entities) - is moving quickly forward with possible tests taking place in December.
Oh yes, and it has a name - MAXCABIN.
I'll bet the Asian carriers and Ryanair's Michael O'Leary will be all ears. But isn't O'Leary all ears anyways? Ahem.
Check out Design Q's brand new newsletter, where I snagged the above snippet. As you can see, the firm will be doing lots of other cool stuff at next week's NBAA convention in Orlando.
on October 14, 2009 5:10 PM | Reply
Oh, to be so young and sassy :)
Has anyone addressed the whole pesky turbulence thing with these folks? Have they ever been through a rough landing?
I think I'd feel safer in a single engine aircraft over ocean at night.
on October 14, 2009 6:45 PM | Reply
Have I got this right? At 16 Gs does everybody get splattered on the screen?
Some horror movie that. No IFE needed.
on October 15, 2009 1:45 AM | Reply
They mention a crash simulation...I would be VERY interested in that, due to the sideways placement of passengers. I cannot imagine those seats and passenger positions will be able to handle much load without some serious, nasty injuries. It's not my thing, but isn't there some kind of requirement (FAA?), like a 26G load, that the seats (and passengers in them) have to handle?
I don't see this passing any kind of realistic crash test. Maybe it'll be meant for third-world countries, and/or those without stringent crash requirements.
on October 15, 2009 2:11 AM | Reply
The seats would have to pass 16G testing to be certified on any/every platform regardless of the end customers location or safety standards
on October 15, 2009 10:12 AM | Reply
Without a doubt, there are a lot of questions that need answered and problems resolved. But I find it incredibly interesting that there is so much momentum behind ultra-high-density offerings. Clearly a number of airlines are interested.
on October 15, 2009 5:52 PM | Reply
For most LCCs and Legacy carriers, using this would be a suicide mission, but the niche is there for ultra low cost carriers like Ryanair.
on October 21, 2009 5:24 PM | Reply
Personally I think they would have a better off trying something like this.
http://www.instablogsimages.com/images/2008/01/22/globus-artifort-mobile-office-pod_12.jpg