Analysis of The Economy Class Seat Design Essay Example
Aviation has become more common over the years with the number of flying passengers increasing per year over the last decade excluding the COVID-19 [14]. Of these passengers, the majority tend to fly economy/coach class with its affordable and competitive pricing allowing for more accessibility for individuals and families to travel [22]. As such economy class constitutes the majority of the seats in a commercial aircraft [10]. With this industry's growth being projected to increase rapidly, it is important to consider the seat in which one sits while travelling and the user experience. It is known that economy class seats are continuously bashed as being very poor in comfort, ergonomics and overall experience posing problems for existing users and excluding user groups who wish to travel such as those who may have to travel frequently for business trips [17]. Thus by conducting a thorough analysis of the economy class seat design, it can help with contriving design changes that can be made to improve the current design while still adhering to aircraft guidelines.
Despite people who fly economy making up the majority of the user base of air travel, they contribute lower profit margins as compared to other classes (i.e. premium economy and business class passengers) when evaluated for the revenue per square ft. [4]. It has been stated that half of both American and United airlines revenue “... comes from 13% to 15% of customers who travel on a repeated basis. These passengers tend to travel in business class and pay full price.” [22]. Instead the only reason for economy class’s existence is to only fill up space which only contributes to more costs for fuel from extra mass and further maintenance and cleaning making it non-beneficial for both parties involved [21].
The current design for economy class seats prioritize being able to condense seats resulting in smaller leg spaces allowing for bigger 3-4-3 or 3-3-3 arrangements in aircrafts [19]. The seats are also designed to have as little padding as possible to ensure they are as lightweight as possible to conserve fuel costs [9]. Additionally on average the seat pitch which measures space between seats is standardized around 29-32 inches of space [2]. Overall it contributes to allowing for as much space as possible to add as many seats as possible.
The issue with such a model is that it excludes significant user groups of people such as taller individuals causing them to be forced to spend more to upgrade tickets to business class with increased seat pitch ranging from 36-78 inches on average [2]. Furthermore it poses a physical Human Factors problem for frequent fliers as the seating position from the leaned back backrest and smaller leg spaces can cause stiffness in the legs and back pain from the extension of the spine placing more pressure on the discs inside the vertebrae caused by the shoulder not being inline of the hips and feet [18]. The same issues also apply to fliers who have to take longer flights and all of the identified scenarios can pose issues both individually and collectively in the case an individual who is 6’ 6” is having to travel internationally for work related reasons [7]. It is a result of the poor ergonomics of the economy class seat design as it does not take into account the adequate seat pitch and is a problem for users as air travel is widely accessible and can sometimes be necessary making it an abhorrent design. With such constraints outlined from the current design it is important to realize that all of these issues related to human Factors can be solved by accounting and appealing to larger crowds through adjusting seat pitch and in turn providing a better travelling experience for consumers and a more profitable business model for the airlines.
To define seat pitch, the human-artefact interaction factor in this scenario, it is the measure of distance between one point on the seat to the same point of the seat in front or behind it [8]. Seat pitch is a broader term and thus does not entail only moving the seat to provide more leg space [11].
Through previous studies it has been justified that an increase in seat pitch is necessary to accommodate for larger user groups and the change in body proportions over the past few decades [16]. With this in mind, we can suggest design change improvements.
The main adjustment to the seat pitch is by reduction of the seat reclining angle. Seat inclination has been noted to be too low to allow for comfort while doing various activities on a plane including sleeping, consuming entertainment, etc. causing passengers discomfort in the shoulders and back making the above activities difficult or strenuous [13] . The study was conducted on a Boeing 737, one of the most common airplanes in use [13]. The design should be altered to accommodate various excluded peoples outlined by adjusting the seat pitch through the angle of elevation from the normal to 15 degrees or 135 degrees from the axis parallel to the floor (Figure 1) [20].
[Figure 1: Aircraft Seat diagram: (A) → Seat pitch, (B) → Legroom, Semantics Scholar]
Restriction of reclination angle to this quantity allows for the most even distribution of weight along the vertebrae allowing for it to appeal to more user groups that may have issues with posture [20]. It is important to note that the seat will retain its reclination mechanism to move from 135 degrees from the parallel axis to 90 degrees to adhere to safety protocols outlined by the FAA during landing and takeoff of the aircraft for safety precaution and injury reduction [15].
A second factor is the position of where the aluminum frame of the seat is bolted to the floor relative to the seats in front or behind. The quantity should be increased subsequently increasing leg room allowing for proper circulation of blood flow to the legs. This can eliminate physical issues for the user such as preventing the legs from stiffening up from the lack of space that can cause issues such as Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT, blood clots) which increase in risk the longer the flight time may be or prevent those with conditions such as varicose veins from travelling due to strain on the heart from it having to work harder to pump blood to the legs due to poor circulation when seated [5] [6]. As a result the average seat pitch of economy class should be increased to between 34-40 inches as compared to the current value of 29-31inches as it provides optimal comfort and adequate leg room to travellers [12] [2] . Additionally, by allowing a constraint for a range of values, it can accommodate for different types of airlines, their common flight paths, flight lengths, their pricing, and their aircrafts [3]. Furthermore, the argument of unable to accommodate more passengers is inoperative as it allows for decreased costs for other aspects such as fuel costs, weight, and manufacturing/labor costs making it a practical design improvement.
The abhorrent seat design of economy class is one that has to be tolerated for the sake of competitive pricing for flights at the cost of the threat of physical injury and discluding a vast majority of user groups, deterring said individuals from travelling or having them pay 65% more for business class to be able to travel without issues. Instead by suggesting design improvements to increase the seat pitch, more groups of people can be accommodated. By altering the angle of inclinations and increasing leg room, this design approach leads to an overall better design for air travel for both the business and the travellers thus being a viable option. Attempts have been made for such design implementations under the name of the “economy plus” but still allowing for competitive pricing and lower costs by slashing of first class which was not as profitable further saving costs for fuel and weight from other luxuries in first class allowing for a better travel experience for the user.
