Toyota airline seats, photo by All Nipon Airways
Whether expanding seat size to make room for today’s larger flyers or shrinking them to squeeze in more, the airline seating wars continue to heat up, sometimes to the point of aggression between passengers. A solution, however, may finally be coming from Toyota, which has designed a new chair for economy class almost as adjustable as its car seats, for “wide range of body sizes.”
Generally on flights, and certainly in economy, airline seats like to crush our hips (and just about everything else) by forcing a straight up-and-down posture. Reclining only makes it worse, both from in front and behind. In fact, measurements for today’s seating were taken in the 1960s (when apparently the average butt size was 14 inches for men and 14.4 inches for women, more than an inch less than today) and based primarily on the size and shape of male hips.
Toyota airline seats, graphic by All Nipon Airways
Although Toyota’s seats don’t look much different, several important changes have been made. Primarily, passengers can adjust the height and length of the seat and backrest, which distributes pressure more throughout the seat. Furthermore, hard plastic is replaced with softer fabrics, while the shapes of trays, arm rests, and seat backs are rounded off to reduce the “oppressive feeling.” At 17.5 inches, the width, however, remains on par (or even slightly less) with airlines like Delta, Emirates, and KLM.
The new seats will debut on All Nippon Airways domestic flights in June and on six 767-300s by next year