The Chinese who often travel to and from China and the United States in economy class must have such an experience. The seats on the plane are uncomfortable sleeping, narrow chairs, small space, lying not sitting or not, more than a dozen hours harder than the train seat. Even worse, more than a dozen hours, crowded with more than a hundred people in the sultry cabin, belong to their own area less than a square meter. Many people are complaining that the economy seat is too narrow.
The seat of the plane has narrowed
In fact, it is not just a few people who feel uncomfortable sitting. As an aviation power, more and more Australian consumers are complaining that the seats on the plane are too narrow: "I don't feel good about it," a female passenger who just got off the plane told a reporter on Channel 9. "especially with a fat guy sitting next to me."
How narrow are the seats on the plane?
In a comparison with CNN, they measured seat spacing between trains, cars and White House press conferences, measured by the distance between the front and back of the two rows of seats. As a result, the train seats were 40 inches (1.02 meters) apart, the average sedan was 32 inches (0.81 meters) apart, and the White House press conference was 34 inches (0.86 meters) apart.
So how long is the seat spacing on the plane?
Unfortunately, the longest is only as spacious as a car's backseat-Virgin Australia's seat is 32 inches, according to data; the average for major international airlines is only 30 inches (0.76 meters); To make matters worse, some low-cost seat backs do not seem to be adjustable.
That's not the case with the old airplane seats.
However, airplane seats are not always so crowded. At least in 1985, the seats of major international airlines were between 34 and 36 inches (0.86 to 0.91 meters), and as they entered the nineties, they began to become shorter and shorter like "warm boiled frogs." By the time the passengers realized, they had 10 centimeters less room for their legs than they had been thirty years ago.
On the other hand, the width of the seat is also quietly changing. International flights were 19 to 20 inches wide until 2000, but by the end of the century, major international airlines had slowly adjusted their seats to less than 18 inches (0.46 meters).
According to data from Flyer Rights, the average size of seats for major international airlines decreased from 18.5 inches (47 cm) to 17 inches (43.18 cm) between around 2000 and around 2010. The average seat spacing narrowed from 35 inches (88.9 cm) to 31 inches (78.74 cm). This change has been particularly evident in recent years. In 2010, Boeing received orders for the 777, of which only 15 percent were 10-row models. By 2013, that figure had risen to 70 percent, breaking a decade-long tradition.
Not only that, airlines are reducing their occupancy rates through promotions, over-sales, and so on, with the global passenger carrier rate rising from 75% in 2005 to 80.6% this year, which means that aircraft are becoming more crowded. Passengers can't take advantage of the empty seats to make their journey more comfortable.
Airlines: profit maximization
Net profit on global airlines has been rising in recent years, from $1.9 per passenger in 2005 to $7.7 per additional passenger this year.
For airlines, the more passengers a plane can carry, the more profitable it will be. However, as they increase their seats on the plane, it is also important to take into account flight safety.
To meet the goal of maximizing airlines' interests, aircraft manufacturers have begun to think of ways to make seats "slimmer", redesigning bags with magazines and warning manuals in the back of seats, and replacing seat cushions with better stretchable elastic gauze materials. There is also the armrest that adjusts the seat room.
"there are two main goals in designing aircraft seats: more people and lighter entire aircraft," said Teal Group airline industry analyst Albrafia (Richard Aboulafia).
It is obvious that the spacing is shortened and the seats can be increased. A flight can jam more passengers, and airlines will naturally make more money. In fact, a few years ago, airlines at home and abroad carefully studied the feasibility of selling station tickets on aircraft, and even designed a "stand-up bracket," if not stopped by the relevant departments. They were afraid that the cabin would not really be canned sardines. On the other hand, economy class has given up more space, airlines can also add more "higher class". In other words, the economy class leg space has been used by the Tuhao. Economy class saved space can be increased by four rows of higher class. In fact, there is a little-known and slightly cruel fact that most of our low-cost passengers are not a major source of revenue for airlines.
According to the survey, British Airways has a direct round-trip flight from Heathrow Airport in London to Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C., with a total of 224 seats: economy class (blue) at $876 each, and economy class revenue of $106872; Advanced economy class (yellow) fare of $2633, a total of 40, income of $105320; business class (red) 48 seats at a unit price of $6723, income of $322704; First-class (green) 14 seats at $8715 each for a total revenue of $122010. If you are dizzy about all of the above figures, take a direct look at the conclusion: 84% of the total revenue on this flight is provided by non-economy class passengers. 122 economy-class passengers add up to less than 14 first-class passengers.
hidden dange
Experts said, can not underestimate the shrinkage of these centimeters of change. A lot of times you can't sleep on a plane because you've lost an inch of your seat. In 2013, Airbus released a study that found that passengers napping on an 18-inch chair reported the quality of sleep they had reported. 53% higher than the 17-inch sleep, and they are generally less likely to wake up and be disturbed.
Dr Irshaad Ebrahim of the London Sleep Center said: "an inch can make a big difference on a long journey."
In addition, while there are many ways in which aircraft seats can be designed to make space larger, some consumer protection organizations still do not pay for it, arguing that narrowing the seating distance is not a matter of comfort, but a matter of safety.
Flyers Rights Chairman Hudson (Paul Hudson) said it was necessary to set limits on seat spacing and width for flight safety. The longer the passengers grow, but the smaller the seats are, the rules still require passengers on board to be able to evacuate in one and a half minutes. "obviously, if you squeeze into a very narrow space, it's harder to escape in an emergency."
A sleazy airline
In fact, adjusting seat spacing is not the only way for airlines to "clean up". In many places you haven't noticed or can't see, they've moved a wide variety of small thoughts, which can be said to save money from the teeth.
In the 1980s, an American Airways flight attendant at (AA) found that nearly 3/4 of customers ate no salad olives. When Crandel (Robert Crandall), then president of American Airlines, learned of it, he immediately ordered the olives from the plane to be removed, an adjustment that saved the airline more than $40, 000 a year.
In 1994, also at the suggestion of a flight attendant, Southwest stopped printing the company's logo for garbage bags, which saved the company another $ three hundred thousand.
Ryan Airlines also came up with the idea of canceling the bag on the back of the plane. As a result, passengers will not put the garbage inside, saving a cleaning and maintenance costs.
Some save money and save money on cheap flights, and even get flight attendants to check tickets before they take off-so they don't have to hire an extra inspector.
However, again, there is no need to complain too much about the airline's "stingy" behavior. In a sense, it is these measures that allow us to buy thousands or even hundreds of low-cost tickets. On the other hand, had it not been for passengers who drank champagne in the first-class, most airlines would not have been able to push trans-ocean economy class below 10, 000 yuan. Flights are likely to become "luxury trips" as few aristocrats can afford to spend, as they did in the 1950s.
Overall, between price and comfort, airlines chose to sacrifice the latter to make up for the former, and the vast majority of passengers accepted the fact.