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Are Airplanes with "Fat Seats" Coming?

Bombardier's new C-Series jets have middle seats that are "up to 2 inches wider"

By Rain Noe - July 13, 2016

in Cars | Design Business

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:

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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.

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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?

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Bobtato Smith

8 years ago

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If everyone traveled alone, and airlines assigned seats by waist measurement, then a distribution of seat sizes from "toddler" to "sumo" would make a lot of sense. But when you have to seat whole families of heavy people, or tour groups of tiny Japanese grandmothers, and accommodate aisle/window preferences too, that solution becomes intractable.

Charging bigger people more for the same seats just pisses everyone off; charging more for bigger seats (which of course airlines already do) allocates space by wealth instead of need.

IMO, the airline industry is running out of ways to avoid the elephant in the room, namely, that economy seats are just too small. That said, I think they could wring several inches out of what they have. Window seats could be fitted tighter against the wall, and armrests could be retractable; they often aren't, and if you know the person next to you it may be more comfortable to go without.

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Noodle Time

8 years ago

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samoa air charges by weight.... i think on larger aircraft, the weight thing gets lost in the average. so it will always be a case by case, per the flight attendant thing to deal with.

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Arthur Kucher

8 years ago

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I think it's only a pattern.

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- Jason Pokines
  
  Arthur Kucher
  
  8 years ago
  
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  It looks like the left B" extends past the inside of the armrest by up to two inches, as advertised. Perspective warping may be at play here, but maybe not.
  
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- Rain Noe
  
  Arthur Kucher
  
  8 years ago
  
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  Arthur, good catch; but what Jason said below, plus, look at where the armrests touch the seatbacks. Also, trace the left and right edges of the armrests down to the seat bottoms. It could be perspective but they do not appear to be centered over the border between seat bottoms, which would explain the ~2-inch discrepancy.
  
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  - Jason Pokines
    
    Rain Noe
    
    8 years ago
    
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    I bet the alternate placement of the seam on the seat is meant to subtly signal that it's a wider seat; I'm assuming not every row will get this normal-wide-normal bench. Everything else looks to be discreetly blended it so as not to draw attention to the "fat chair." Once a person sits down, it's hard to tell the difference.
    
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