Seating

Skyrider ‘saddle’ seat: now in version 2.0

You may remember the shock and alarm over Aviointerior’s Skyrider seat, which envisioned packing more passengers onto airplanes by offering an abbreviated seat that was more like a saddle.

The early version was never certified or taken very seriously, but the company is not giving up.

At this week’s Aircraft Interiors Expo taking place in Hamburg, Germany, Aviointeriors is showing the Skyrider 2.0, which is a bit more sturdy and padded version of the orginal saddle seat, with poles securing the seat to the floor and to the ceiling of the cabin (to improve saftey) and the pitch the same claustrophic 23 inches as before.

The company rep who showed me the seat said this version should be able to get certified for airlines and that these saddle-seats are really designed for short haul flights and for price-points “that make travel possible for people who would never otherwise be able to fly.”

The Skyrider seats aren’t shown anywhere on the Aviointeriors website. Instead, customers are directed to ‘real’ products with Italian-inspired names such as Columbus (a line of economy cabin seats), Galileo (business class seats) and Mona Lisa (first class.)

 

Passenger-friendly innovations in skies now – and on the horizon

(Airbus_A320 Family Airspace interior. Courtesy Airbus)

For CNBC this week, I put together some of the most passenger-friendly, or unusual, finalists vying for this year’s Crystal Cabin Awards, which are set to be announced April 10 and often described as “the Oscars of the aviation industry.”

One of the more unusual and intriuging ideas on the list is something called a ‘Durinal,’ by Zodia Aerospace.

 

 

You know how it is: after meals and just before landing, bathroom lines get long and the lav-to-passenger ratio in the economy cabin on airplanes just seems wrong. Worse, when lavs get busy, there’s that wet floor issue that comes courtesy of the male ‘splash zone.’

The Durinal is designed to solve both problems by replacing one regular lavatory with two urinals. Durinal creator Zodiac Aerospace says installing the toilets on planes can improve lavatory “cycle time” and cut down on male use of the conventional toilets, “Thus leaving them more hygienic for the ladies.”

 

 

 

On flights that aren’t full, Zodiac Aerospace’s new Eco Zlounge concept makes it possible for passengers to stretch out with a mechanism that allows the cushion part of the seat in front of a passenger to fold down, creating more leg room.

No doubt the extra space will come with an extra cost, but on long flights passengers may be willing to pay that cost.

See more finalists in my CNBC story, here.

On United: new domestic 1st class seats

On Wednesday, United Airlines showed off the new seats that will soon be showing up in the first class cabin of the Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft the carrier uses on domestic routes.

United's new First Class seat to be installed on the carrier's entire Airbus fleet_photo Harriet Baskas

The new leather seats are a bit wider than the current seats and have some nice new features, including universal AC power plugs, more places to store your things, a wider center console that includes a space for water bottles, and a larger, more classy-looking, expandable drink table between the seats.

united armrest

The best part, though, is the tray table. Larger and sturdier than previous versions, this one draws on some of the patents held by Smart Tray and includes a built-in holder for personal electronic devices.

United tray table

I covered the “unveiling” for USA TODAY – here’s a link to that story.

On the bus with Air New Zealand

ANZ SEAT TOUR

If you’re out and about in the Bay Area the next few days keep an eye out for Air New Zealand’s glass-sided tour bus, which is parking around town and giving folks on the ground a chance to try out the airline’s Premium Economy Spaceseat and Economy Skycouch, which are on the airline’s Boeing 777-300 service between San Francisco and Australia (via Auckland).

The bus has been on the road a few days already, but here are the spots where you can climb on board this week:

October 6th – San Pedro Square Marketplace – San Jose (8 a.m. – 6 p.m.)
October 7th – San Francisco: Fillmore & California Streets (throughout the day) – Fillmore Art & Wine Festival (6 – 9 p.m.)
October 8th – Downtown San Francisco –SoMa StrEat Food Park (10:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.) & Embarcadero Center (8 – 9:45 a.m. & 3:15 – 6 p.m.)
October 9th – San Francisco: Union & Fillmore Streets (throughout the day) – Union Street Wine Walk (6 – 9 p.m.)
October 10th – Downtown San Francisco – Embarcadero Center (8 a.m. – 2 p.m.) & “Off the Grid” at Fort Mason (5 – 10 p.m.)

There are also prizes and gifts to go along with this promotion:

Anyone who spots the truck and shares Tweets, messages and photos with Twitter @AIRNZUSA, Instagram @AirNZ or Facebook @AirNewZealand using the hashtag #AirNZ777300 will have a chance to win “surprise and delight” Air New Zealand swag.

Visitors to the truck at any of its public stops will be eligible to win daily prizes.

And – for the rest of us – there’s an online sweepstakes for two Economy round-trip tickets from San Francisco to New Zealand or Australia.
Enter here.

In progress: wish list of airport amenities for 2014

Hilo Airport one mile

2014 will arrive in just a few days and here at Stuck at the Airport we’re making a wish list of amenities we’d like to see touch down at airports in the new year.

Here’s a list of some of the “wants” that have been sent to me so far. Feel free to add your own…

“More outlets”

“More massage places”

“Free basic Wi-Fi in all airports”

“CVS-type stores”

“Wireless recharging spots”

“More relaxation areas like those at Helsinki and Taiwan airports”

“More 10-minute manicures and Minute Suites”

“Working electrical outlets”

“More work desks”

We’re got a few more days to add to the list, so please let me know what fresh amenities you’d like to see in airports in 2014.