We already confess that we love to travel, but when it involves air travel, we always have our hands full with anxiety. Now imagine how we felt when we read about this measure, that traveling by plane standing up could actually be a reality in the future.
At least since 2010, we’ve been hearing about how to get passengers to travel standing up in airplanes. Companies and aircraft interior manufacturers have proposed various solutions to make these new seats a reality, with two very specific objectives: to increase capacity and reduce costs.
Of course, just thinking about this idea has already sparked controversy around the regulation that will be needed to implement these seats, especially with regard to passenger comfort and safety.
How far is too far?
One of the companies that has presented prototypes of vertical seats is the Italian company Aviointeriors, such as the Skyrider 3.0 models pictured above, which place passengers in an almost upright position, supported by a small seat similar to a bicycle seat, with an additional place to rest their feet.
It is believed that with this type of standing airplane seat, incredible savings have been made, as well as increasing the capacity of planes by around 20%.
It could also be advantageous for passengers, with tickets costing much less than they do today. But would it be worth the safety and comfort?
Experts say that this approach came about as a response from airlines, especially low-cost ones, to maximize revenue and, of course, further democratize access to air transport.
However, some regulations would have to be changed for this project to go ahead, particularly international safety standards.
The current prototypes eliminate part of the structure connecting the aircraft to the floor and ceiling, reducing the weight by up to 50% when compared to the current seats, allowing even more passengers on each flight.
According to the Italian company, these models can be installed on aircraft such as the Airbus A320/321 and Boeing 737, the most typical for short-haul journeys.
According to some studies commissioned by Ryanair, some passengers would be willing to travel in this type of seat if the price were significantly lower, while others, in a more advanced age group, consider these proposals unacceptable, pointing to discomfort as the main factor in such disagreement.
However, to date, both the European and American civil aviation authorities have rejected these proposals on safety grounds.
Therefore, traveling by plane standing up in the future will depend mainly on the evolution of safety standards and public acceptance.