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Aviation History
1967
1967 - 0685.PDF
Mernathnal, 27 April 1967 669 PASSENGER SEATS —the reason for airliners IN NO OTHER MEDIUM of passenger transport is the seat soessentially the core of the vehicle as in the air. An airlinepassenger, except for the increasingly difficult business of reaching the toilet compartment before the "occupied" light goes on again, usually has to remain firmly in his seat for the duration of the flight. He can see little from it beyond a segment of the cabin ceiling and the backs of the row a few inches in front of his nose; even a seat by one of today's mini- windows usually offers him a view only of a wing upper surface or, at best, a featureless cloud sea. His seat is his prison: he must eat in it, sleep in it (if he can) and occasionally, perhaps, be rather frightened in it. Long-distance train passengers enjoy other amenities to relieve journey tedium: an ever-changing view from the win- dow, a visit to the buffet or restaurant car, or a leg-stretching stroll along the corridor. At night, sleeping berths are usually available for a relatively small extra charge. Coach and car travel provides, in addition to views of the countryside, road- side stops for a stretch and refreshment. Ships, possessing the advantage of almost unlimited space, offer so many amenities —increasing in diversity in proportion to the size of the vessel and the length of the voyage—that seats, or chairs, are merely items of hotel furniture. I must, of course, be fair. Trains can be, and often are, dirty and slow; coaches and cars ill-ventilated, and alarming in their method of progress; ships a threat to all but the strongest stomach. But the essential point remains: for the airline pas- senger, the seat he occupies is his small world. Outside it, every- thing else is no more than an impression. That the impression is usually quite pleasing is a credit to the ingenuity and skill of interior furnishing consultants, designers and craftsmen, whose purpose is to persuade him that he is riding inside something rather more inspiring than a long, sealed metal tube. Some aeroplanes give a rougher ride than others, some are noisier, some bigger, and some faster. These features apart, the average passenger pays little attention to the type of air- craft he (or she) is in. Does anyone—least of all a woman— really care whether it is a Whisper-jet, Whizz-jet, Waft-jet or any other of the ridiculous names on the advertisement hoard- ings? On the other hand, surely one of the most effective airline posters seen in recent years was that depicting simply an economy-class seat—enhanced by the graceful reclining form of Miss Marlene Dietrich. The point had been appreciated that *e only commodity the airline had for sale that was of real interest to the customer was a place in one of its seats. What the seat was fitted to was unimportant. (Taking the idea a step further, one can almost imagine some pre-war Hannibal kept indefinitely in service, with modern seating, decor and soundproofing, and filled with passengers who had scarcely noticed anything unusual.) In the past ten years, considering the stringent specifications ™ airlines, manufacturers have achieved some remarkable successes in their efforts to produce a seat that will carry the argest passenger the longest distance in the greatest comfort,g 01 the weight in the smallest space at the lowest seat c°st. Some seat! particularly when it must, in addition, stand P to much rougher treatment than do the heavier and more ^°ust units normally fitted in surface transport vehicles. (I ""»t admit that so far I have yet to hear of seat-slashers jj actismg their art in the air. Presrifhably that will come whenln «s start to run football specials by airbus or jumbo jet.) Today . . . The modern approach, typified by a high-density tourist seat with shell-type reclining backs (Flight Equipment & Engineering's new Flitemaster Type 320) Comfort Seat manufacturers have a difficult task, faced as they are with such a wide variety of conflicting requirements that are seldom presented in the same order by any two air- lines. Comfort is a most important factor, certainly on long- haul routes. An unbroken sojourn of more than a couple of hours or so is scarcely bliss in any kind of transport seat, and the majority of intercontinental travellers would cheerfully sacrifice some time for the sake of a more comfortable ride. As propeller-driven aircraft gradually fade from the air- transport scene, scheduled flights of more than seven hours become increasingly rare. Long-haul seats, therefore, should be designed to retain their comfort for up to five hours at a stretch, and—almost more important—for as many as five or six successive stages of similar duration. Short-haul operators, on the other hand, may have more reason to give economics preference over passengers' comfort, for their customers are seldom with them for longer than a single journey stage of barely a couple of hours' duration. Even so, whereas long-haul operators' seats are mostly com- fortable enough, those installed by short-haul operators are if anything more comfortable than necessary, being (as they are) mainly slightly simplified versions of the long-haul seats spaced a little more closely together. It could reasonably be claimed that—width and leg-room apart—the average short-haul aircraft seat, with its added advantage of a reclining back, is as comfortable as many first- class seats in long-distance trains outside North America. Train seats with reclining backs are however, beginning to gain some favour in Europe, even for second-class coaches. These arguments apply, of course, to tourist or economy- class airline passengers who, over the North Atlantic, out- number first-class by nearly eight to one. On that route during 1966, the average number of first-class seats fitted was sixteen . . . and yesterday No recline, but the very best wickerwork; cabin of a Handley Page W.IO, circa 1926
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