Headrests!!! Who were they made for? I would like to know if very tall people find them comfortable.

Quite a few years back Conde Nast Traveller magazine published an article about airline seating. They hired an industrial design firm in Amsterdam to design a new seat. According to the article airplanes had been redesigned many times since consumer air travel began but regardless of the advances in aerodynamics no one had ever thought to take a run at the "seat". It was a very interesting article and if my memory serves me correctly the industrial designers had the following suggestions for coach seating:

- they noted that the average foam padding of the seat was four inches deep. By ridding the seat of its padding and using a lighter fabric (like the webbing found on a Herman Miller Aeron office chair) you could reduce the space the seats took up. In a 737 this would result in adding two more rows. Or alternatively the extra space could be given to the passenger for a deeper pitch seat. Based on information given this change alone would recover the cost of implementing the new seating within a year.

- the also looked at the ergonomics of the seat recline. Apparently the current method of just reclining the seat back puts stress on the lower spine (must be why I prefer my seat upright). The suggestion was to have the seat pivot so that the seat base went up as the back sunk back -- similar to a good bucket seat.

- like one of the previous posters they also recommended seats which had the seat base flip up (like theatre seating) for ease of exit and entry, especially in an emergency.

- they recommended arm and head rests that were adjustable for height. The head rest also came with its own adjustable reading light.

That's as much as I could remember about the article -- but I often think about the recommendations as I'm stuck flying in a seat that was designed in the 1950's.

I think the seats flipping-up theatre style is good. the problem with making the seats 'thinner' is if the airline's just put in extra rows!
I sawa thread here a long while back with information about a company that had designed a new concept seating arrangement, not in a straight line but each seat a few inches bedinfd or ahead of the others.
Most airlines I use have a reasonable 34" pitch in coach luckily.

Some Amtrak train seats have neck/back cushions that slide up and down the seat back, so you can position them where you need them. Like many others here, I'm sick of having my head forced forward and down by neck-rests designed for 6-footers, and then nothing behind my lower back. (Added possible plus: the sliding cushion could also be flotation device?)

Hi! I am an airline interior design professional. The flip-up seat discussion struck my eyes. I would like to guide you to obtain more information regarding the recent improvements already in certification process at both Boeing and Airbus; as far as I know. The seat is great, and the solution is definately a winner. In relatively near future we may even have first installations; perhaps on a Dreamliner or on-board an A380 aircraft. Here's a link to an article on the internet. http://www.dexigner.com/product/news.html?q=flip-up+