A British company’s idea to flip the dreaded middle seats in an airplane to face the rear of the aircraft is getting mixed reviews.
Some see it as providing more elbow room and four more inches of leg room. We see it as way too much closeness and loss of privacy, especially on a long flight.
The idea for aft-facing middle seats in economy class cabins was trotted out at a recent trade show in Germany. Premium Aircraft Interiors Group is marketing the backward seats as “freedom” seats. The layout apparently is already being used in some premium cabins. PAIG development director Ben Bettell was quoted as saying, “For a small loss of personal privacy, you get a big gain in personal space.”
But it’s not about extra space for passenger comfort or keeping neighboring passengers from peering into your laptop screen. It’s about the bottom line. Flipping the middle seat, or seats, will enable more seats to be squeezed into a row and airliners to carry more passengers in the same size aircraft.
Safety experts say aft-facing seats are safer in a crash because rather than being thrown forward, passengers in a backward facing seat would be pressed back into their seats. But assuming the aircraft is safe, the person facing backwards still will be roughly shoulder to shoulder with the adjacent passenger, only facing in different directions. The seats would have adjustable face shields so passengers won’t come eyeball to eyeball with a next-door neighbor every time they turn their head. But the configuration still leaves strangers staring at each other.
And there’s the inevitable reclining neighbor who can’t be blocked by a privacy screen. If two forward facers on either side of a backward facer recline their seats, the backward facer will have the pleasure of starring at two snoring sleepers on one of those long international flights.
We can think of ways to make passengers more comfortable on long flights. Backward-facing seats isn’t one of them.
