Aircraft interiors suppliers continually tout the alleged improvements in passenger comfort offered by their new economy class seats, which are designed to create more personal space for travellers. As the “slimline” seats become more prevalent, questions are arising over the relevance seat pitch plays as a measure of comfort.
For a majority of passengers seat pitch generates an almost emotional response as the distance between seats equates to a certain expected comfort level on their respective journeys.
But Emirates senior vice president of service delivery Terry Daly says that personally he finds seat pitch becoming more meaningless as a measure of comfort. He says seats that featured pitches of 34in-35in 15 years ago actually offered less personal space than present model economy seats, though, judging by the comments on certain airline forums, some passengers disagree.
Joking that his longer legs can be both a blessing and a curse Daly remarks that he sits more comfortably in the current-design economy seating “in a way I couldn’t do a few years ago”.
The seat pitch on Emirates’ widebody fleet varies by aircraft type. On its 777 widebodies that include -200s/200LRs/300s/300ERs, pitch is about 33in-34in. The carrier’s Airbus fleet has a range of 31in-33in pitch.
All the major manufacturers – B/E Aerospace, Recaro and Zodiac’s Weber – offer their respective versions of slimline seats that they profess either preserve or create more personal space for the passenger. Daly says that even as other areas of the onboard experience such as food and in-flight entertainment garner a lot of attention, the materials used in structures such as seating are “just as important to customer comfort”.
But the introduction of slimline seats has not been seamless. Lufthansa recently acknowledged that it encountered problems with fabric on the backbone of the Recaro BL3250 seat wore out faster than expected, which resulted in Recaro performing a change-out of the material. Lufthansa says since the exchange it has not experienced any problems with the seats.
Daly believes that lighter weight and space continue to be the Holy Grail in economy seating as personal space continues to play a critical role in the passenger experience. While a heavy level of attention is placed on product innovation for premium passengers, Daly stresses that the economy product offering “is just as important as the other cabins”.
As a passenger, do you agree with Daly’s comments?
March 8, 2013 at 8:58 am
The conventional measure of seat pitch – distance from some point on a seat to the same point on the seat in front or behind – has become misleading, because slimline seats and changes to seat-pocket positioning have changed the equation. Previously, the seat back thickness (let’s call it “x”) was constant, so with a 31″ pitch I (or rather my knees) knew that they’d have (31-x) inches of room, at least until the passenger in front pressed the evil recline button.
But now x is typically a smaller value. With a conventional seat, I might need 31″ pitch to be comfortable. With one of the new slimline seats I can cope with 30″ or even 29″.
What would really help me evaluate relative seat comfort? Two things.
First, knowing the distance from the front surface of my seat back to the back of the seat in front. For a “conventional” seat with 31″ pitch, that distance might be (for example) 28″ (in other words, “x”, the seat thickness, is 3 inches). That distance might also be 28″ for a new-generation slimline seat with 29″ pitch.
And second, knowing what that distance is when the passenger in front reclines. There’s no point in having a theoretical 30 inches of legroom if it falls to 26 inches when the seat in front reclines. The gold standard in seat comfort comparison for me would be a pair of numbers like “28/27″, meaning 28 inches legroom without recline and 27 when the seat in front is reclined. I would have a particular preference for those two numbers being the same, i.e. no recline, or recline within one’s own seat footprint.
March 8, 2013 at 7:16 pm
It should be important to note that seat comfort is more than a measure of seat pitch. I suspect people will become uncomfortable much quicker sitting in slim seats over the traditional aircraft seats that have more padding.