Flying coach — if you were a dreamer, what changes would you make?

by Karen Fawcett on January 13, 2009

Since more and more of us are stuck in the rear of the (bus) plane, what would you tell the airlines about how to make coach class more palatable?

The adage, “the back of the plane arrives at the same time as the front,” holds little to no consolation when passengers deplane and feel as if they’re a pretzel that’s been put through the ringer.

Some ideas:
More seating room. More knee room, shin room, better lumbar support and toe room without making the seat-bottom shorter. When sitting for long periods of time, comfort is determined by being able to stretch your legs forward and distribute some of your weight on to the back of your thighs. If the seat-bottom is shorter so that the airline can market “more legroom,” that doesn’t count.

Put an end to reclining seats. There’s not enough space and who needs someone pushing his or her seat all the way back and taking up your personal space.

Increase the width of the seats. Two inches makes a big difference. Travelers have voiced wanting a small foot rest for comfort’s sake.

There are a couple of companies working on staggered seat designs for economy/coach. These seats allow airlines to keep the same number of seats, but since the rows are angled, they offer more room to individual passengers. Those polled are unanimous they’d like to see airlines move to this sort of seating configuration.

Scrub cabin air. The air should not simply re-circulated. It needs to be effectively filtered to combat germs spreading throughout the rear part of the plane.

Don’t promise service when there is none. Most people would rather pack their food than having to buy an expensive ‘meal’ that’s been sitting forever. That would free up the flight attendants to do their jobs –- which is making sure passengers are safe in case there’s an emergency.

How about a power plug? Coach passengers want to be able to connect a laptop, MP3-player or other electronics.

Quieter cabins, better reading lights and improved personal climate control.

Family steating. Some people wish there were designated seating for people traveling with young children with a soundproof barrier between the sections.

Cleaner planes and lavatories. What about locating WCs in other places than simply in the rear of the plane? Clean the cabins more often.

More efficient boarding and deplaning process. One idea: Make checked baggage more reliable, safe and free (for at least the first bag) so passengers aren’t encouraged to board with incredible amounts of carry-on luggage.

A small “lounge” (space next to the galley) on long haul flights would allow passengers to get out of the seat, stretch, communicate and have a drink.

OK  — this is a start. What intelligent suggestions would you like to convey to airlines executives in the position to effect change? It never hurts to fantasize.

Karen Fawcett is president of BonjourParis.

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Tagged as: changes, coach flights. survey, travel

  • Oscar

    While roomier seating is a no-brainer, I’d like to toss out a suggestion my wife made on a flight to Europe, create at least one bathroom that’s male only with a urinal instead of a toilet, it would speed up the bathroom lines (most men can be in and out in 90 seconds) and keep the other bathrooms cleaner.

    I’d also suggest not allowing seats to recline, at over 6ft tall if the seat in front of me reclines at all I am in discomfort, if they recline fully that turns into agony, and I have to fight the urge to do something stupid that might get me arrested.

    Thankfully, I either get upgraded or use my status to book and exit row with added legroom.

  • Kelly

    More comfortable seats! There is nothing worse then these awful airplane seats that make you slouch and have terrible posture for the entire flight.

    But think about it…..do you know how much money even one of these improvements would cost the airlines? With them nickel and diming us as much as they are, do you think they are really going to spend money on stuff like this?

  • SirWired

    My biggest gripe would definitely be the promising something that cannot be delivered. The legacy airlines need to stop touting a glamorous flying experience, and then providing less service than Southwest.

    I understand why the “Greyhounding” of the airline experience has occurred since deregulation. I don’t have any quibbles with the airline not providing premium service for which passengers are clearly not willing to pay. (Ok, US Air not even providing water to drink is going a bit too far…)

    If airlines want to compete solely on price (which is exactly what they do), then they need to just admit it. Pretending you still provide a luxurious travel experience when clearly you do not does not do anybody any favors. It means that fantastic amounts of money are spent half-heatedly pretending to be a full-service airline, which merely serves to frustrate crew, annoy passengers, and demoralize ground staff.

    Most of those other suggestions are pointless pie-in-the-sky wishes. None of them will happen while airlines are engaged in a race-to-the-bottom with fares and service.

    SirWired

  • Frank

    Increase the width of the seats. Two inches makes a big difference.
    ==============================================

    Alot of the 737 Family of aircraft have the WIDTH set at 11 feet, 7 inches. You want another TWO INCHES per seat. That’s an additional 12 inches of width, added to the aircraft. Now, that’s dreaming!

  • http://www.bonjourparis.com Karen Fawcett

    Speaking of dreaming, perhaps one seat per row could be removed. Frank, wouldn’t that do the trick ? Hummm?

  • Jess

    I love the idea of a Family Cabin. My family lives on the West Coast and I am on the East Coast. I would love to take my two sons (3 yrs old and younger) to see them more often. Although they are very good travellers (the older one has flown to California and Hawaii several times with no incidents), I would be much more comfortable in a section with other families and away from the business travellers who need to focus and the baby-haters who are just waiting for my kids to make a peep so they can shoot me dirty looks.

  • SJ

    Due to back problems, I could not fly if my seat could not recline. I would never wish away that amenity.

    If I could add anything, it would be a small, drop-down foot rest.

  • Frank

    On January 13th, 2009 at 11:27 am Karen Fawcett said Speaking of dreaming, perhaps one seat per row could be removed. Frank, wouldn’t that do the trick ? Hummm?

    ==============================================================

    LESS SEATS———-> LESS REVENUE.
    Hmmmmm, wouldnt they need to RAISE ticket prices if they reduce the number of seats onboard?

  • Adrienne

    Here’s one that’s free: Stop “inviting” people to “recline your seat, sit back, relax and enjoy the flight.” There is simply no room in most Coach configurations to recline the seats. I, too, like Oscar, have had to fight the urge to do something stupid to the recliner in front of me. I’m contemplating paying off that person the next time. Do you think a $20 would work?

  • Lyngengr

    Can someone explain to me how angling the seats will increase leg room? I can see this configuration adding more seat width, but increased pitch?

  • Ron G

    Adrienne,
    Your $20 would be good for a two hour or less flight…..Longer flights would need a corresponding increase in fee.

  • http://thevacationstop.com Steve Mencik

    I’d like to make the airline execs fly in the last 5 rows of a full flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong. Preferably, put them in a middle seat. If they were to experience what they put their passengers through on an everyday basis, perhaps they would come up with the ideas on their own.

    Then again, I’m probably dreaming. They’d forget the experience the next day when they look at their financial reports again. Passengers are just cargo anyway.

  • http://www.bonjourparis.com Karen Fawcett

    Well — here’s an article about “staggered” seating. Has anyone ever encountered it in Economy class?

    http://www.popsci.com/military-aviation-space/article/2008-04/delta-rolls-out-fancy-seats-plebians

  • Frank

    Adrienne said I’m contemplating paying off that person the next time. Do you think a $20 would work?
    =======================================================

    There ya go: http://www.gadgetduck.com/goods/kneedefender.html?s

  • Hapgood

    I remember reading somewhere that JetBlue removed a row of seats from its A320s. They apparently crunched the numbers and determined that the fuel saving from the reduced weight would more than compensate for the lost revenue. I don’t know if that’s (still?) true, but I have definitely noticed that Jet Blue’s seats have significantly more leg room and are more comfortable overall than the usual steerage (and I was in regular seats, not the premium ones). So I choose JetBlue whenever my destination coincides with their limited routes. If JetBlue can provide comfortable seating and make a profit, why can’t the “legacy” (or should I say “leg-busting”) carriers do it too?

  • Jim

    For families, why not have some seats that face one another. That’ll keep my kids from kicking your seat back (I’ll notice a kick in the shins much faster). Combine that with a privacy curtain and you’ll get a little sound attenuation (and more members of the mile high club, I’m sure).

    Adding power would be pretty heavy (especially if you want clean power for laptops). But outlets at the gate for recharging laptops prior to flight would be smart.

    If there were more teeth to baggage liability, it would cut down on carry-on luggage. I don’t know how that would work (oh yeah…I had fifty pounds of gold bullion in my bag) – perhaps better security and bag-matching would be enough (as it is, I can pick up anyone’s bag off the carousel and walk away with it – I have never had to prove to anyone that a particular bag was mine).

    Some method for queuing for the lavatory that doesn’t involve standing in the narrow aisle in the flight attendants’ way might be nice.

    Seats should be designed to accommodate passengers within the 95th percentile in size (even still, the largest and smallest couple percent will likely be on the plane, too). I’m not even sure the current seats comply with OSHA Standard 29-CFR.

    Air scrubbing can be accomplished using a UV “filter” (kills germs with intense ultraviolent light) combined with an activated charcoal particulate/odor filter.

    It would be nice to be able to get to the overhead bin from your seat, rather than from the aisle. Individual bins would eliminate the drama, explicitly limit the size of carry-on items, and make items stored in the accessible during flight. As it is, if I think I might want a book during a flight, I have to have it with me in my seat.

  • Frank

    On January 14th, 2009 at 11:43 am Hapgood said I remember reading somewhere that JetBlue removed a row of seats from its A320s. They apparently crunched the numbers and determined that the fuel saving from the reduced weight would more than compensate for the lost revenue.
    ==================================================

    Jetblue has added “even more room” seats with 38 inch pitch to rows 2-5 and 10-11. “Even More Legroom” seats can be reserved for $10-$30 per flight segment. All other seats have 34 inch pitch.
    The aircraft holds: 150. If they removed seats, they could also remove a FLIGHT ATTENDANT per aircraft since the ratio is one per 50. There’s some big savings.

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