Flat seats?

[chornedsnorkack]

Do you like to fly and sleep in "flat seats"?

The space beneath a seat is a space useless for the legs of the passenger seated here, but convenient for the passenger behind to put his/her feet in.

Stretching out so as to have feet level with head takes about over 6 feet or 70-s, 80-s inches, or more, depending on your size and incorporating the extra space to keep the clearance from your feet and over your head, plus the thickness of wall separating your feet from next head and your head from next feet.

And it costs a lot to fly in so much real estate. Therefore it is cheaper and more affordable to buy some 50 or 60 inches pitch - and accept that your feet are lower than your head, and beneath someone elseīs **** or head.

So, would you like to have your seatpan tilt so as to be completely on an inclined straight line with the footrest extending beneath the next seat and the reclined seatback? The incline would have to be appreciable to allow for the height of your feet and the thickness of the headrest ahead. You would tend to slide off feet first and have to be supported on some form of footrest.

Or would you prefer to have your middle supported on something level or inclined opposite to your reclined seatback? So as to stop you from sliding down the bed? That is, a non-flat seat with tilted footrest and seatback, and seatpan in the middle giving support?

Any opinions?

[zed3]

Re: Flat seats?

As you rightly say , when sleeping in the usual business class seat ie. not a flat bed , you slide down due to relaxing when you sleep . Even the Lufthansa new business seats are still like this . I don't mind the seat back only reclining 45degrees or so but the footrest should be flat , ie. parallel with the floor . I have never understood why this has not come to light when these seats are tested before introduction . I suppose some manager sits in it for 5 mins. or so and says " fine , ok" (!).

[spiney]

Re: Flat seats?

IMHO there's no comparison between a normal Business Class Seat, (and I've tried at least half a dozen), and a Flat Seat. I rarely sleep well in any seat that is inclined and I always sleep well in the most basic of flat seats. I don't understand why so few Airlines actually offer Flat Seats in Business. In the airlines that have them, they seem to sell like hotcakes... and if it's a long-haul flight and flat seats are available, then that's the carrier I'll prefer to travel with.

[christep]

Re: Flat seats?

Generally because to fit in the same number of flat seats as slightly inclined seats you need to reduce the number of seats or adopt some strange cabin layouts. BA and Virgin have fully flat but with odd layouts. However, I beleieve that BA has decided that backwards facing seats are disliked more than non-flat beds, and that their next generation Club World will get rid of them.

zed3 - as a CX FF I have been involved in some of their next generation seat-testing (for F as it happens). It is a long and detailed process involving spending many hours in the seats doing all the things one would do in flight (eat, read, watch movies), with electronic pads measuring pressure on the body/seat at different seating positions, and detailed questioing on customer perrceptions.

[chornedsnorkack]

Re: Flat seats?

Originally Posted by christep

zed3 - as a CX FF I have been involved in some of their next generation seat-testing (for F as it happens).

I see that your F has 79 inches pitch, enough for fully flat and level bed. But the CX Business Class is 60 inches "flat" seat, with appreciable incline.

Have you ever been in the CX Business Class, and can you deal with the incline?

[christep]

Re: Flat seats?

Yes of course I have been in CX J, and CX Y for that matter.

Personally I'm not a big fan of the incline, nor of the length (I am 6'3" tall) in J, which is one of the reasons (plus the caviar, wines, and service) that I fly long-haul in F whenever possible. But you get what you pay for, and I am happy that there continues to be a differentiated F product on CX (and worried that the number of routes that it is available on is reducing regularly).

[chornedsnorkack]

Re: Flat seats?

Originally Posted by zed3

As you rightly say , when sleeping in the usual business class seat ie. not a flat bed , you slide down due to relaxing when you sleep . Even the Lufthansa new business seats are still like this . I don't mind the seat back only reclining 45degrees or so but the footrest should be flat , ie. parallel with the floor . I have never understood why this has not come to light when these seats are tested before introduction . I suppose some manager sits in it for 5 mins. or so and says " fine , ok" (!).

Well, a flat footrest would indeed tend to stop sliding down, but I thought deep recline is even better in the Z-like position - footrest inclined, seatback reclined and the seatpan held horizontal or inclined in the opposite direction. Thatīs where much of the weight lies... a flat footrest gets uncomfortable at the knees when the recline of seatback is not enough.

For example, CX Business, Air China First, China Airlines Dynasty class and Eva Air Evergreen Deluxe are all about 60 inches pitch... are some of those seats less comfortable than others, and why?