- [Host] Airplane seats today
are a lot smaller than they used to be,
but size isn't the only thing
that makes a chair comfortable.
- They're just seats.
They don't have the like dynamic properties
of an ergonomic seat.
- [Host] So we asked a professional.
- My name is Carla Jaspers.
- [Host] How she'd redesign the airplane seat
to make it more ergonomically perfect.
- For starters, I think there's definitely an opportunity
for a bit of subtle adjustability.
- [Host] Specifically, with the lumbar support.
- [Carla] Good lumbar support could look like subtle,
yet movable lumbar support that could be tailored
to the user's needs.
- [Host] Look at how flat the seatback
of this plane chair is.
Now, compare that with this ergonomic office chair.
- The more points of contact your back can have
with a contoured and supportive seatback, the better.
The spine is sort of this natural S shape,
a very like subtle S-shaped curve.
You have the cervical, thoracic,
and lumbar curvatures of the spine.
- [Host] The lumbar support should hit you right
in the small of your back,
which is why adjustability helps
when catering to various sitters.
- I would also advocate for something comfortable
around the head and neck region.
Adjusting up and down, that's a start.
I would say ideal state, it would be great
if there was something that was just a bit more contoured
to support the head.
If you think about a child's car seat, for example,
there's a contoured head and neck support
to not only provide that comfort in different positions,
but also as a safety factor.
- [Host] Then there's the seat pan.
- If the seat pan could be adjustable,
that would accommodate people of varied leg lengths.
At very least, you could reexamine sizing of the seats.
- [Host] Some planes have decreased seat width
from 18" to 17 to fit in more passengers.
And in some cases, seats can be as narrow as 16".
Compare that with this ergonomic desk chair,
with seat width ranging from 19 to 21.6".
- With regards to seat width,
I think 18 to 19 feels more comfortable for most people.
- If passengers could adjust the depth of their seat pan,
it would help them support their knees
and be able to sit fully against the seatback.
- So if you have somebody with longer legs,
they would get that much more leg and postural support.
And for the person who found the seat pan to be too deep,
if they could bring the depth back,
it could mitigate contact pressure
or discomfort for them as well.
The depth is important in terms of supporting
not only the lower extremities, but also the spine.
If the seat pan is too deep
or compresses the back of the knees or the legs,
it's great to have some sort of support under the feet.
- [Host] Typical ergonomic chairs allow their heights
to be adjusted so your feet can sit firmly on the ground.
On an airplane, a fold out footrest solves this problem.
- A metal bar or just some sort of component under there
that allows people to sort of anchor their feet in
for postural support, which like allows them
to then shift back into their seat.
- [Host] Premium seats can come with those footrests,
but economy seats typically don't.
They're especially important for shorter passengers
to support themselves properly.
- But for somebody like me, I don't necessarily want that
so it'd be nice if it went away depending on the user.
- [Host] This brings us to the biggest hurdle.
- Leg room is paramount.
I think that's like really one of the main needs
for redesign on airplanes.
- [Host] The obvious way to add leg room
is moving seat rows farther apart,
increasing the seat pitch.
The average seat pitch between airplane seats
has decreased from around 34 to 36"
to 32 over the past few decades.
Advocacy group FlyersRights says
that in some planes, it's down to 28".
- When you start to shave inches off that distance,
it compromises leg room.
And this is when you run into issues
with people's legs being unable to fit
when they're sitting in their seats.
I think anything less than 32,
people start to notice significantly that seat is too small.
Over 32, people find it to be more spacious.
With regards to the materials that are used,
Tempur-Pedic foams or memory foams come to mind.
Something that would keep its shape
and really offer that contoured support.
Because these arm rests are predominantly hard plastics
or metal materials, there's definitely an opportunity
to introduce some softer materials
to mitigate contact pressure.
- [Host] Airplane seats have gotten
significantly more lightweight in recent decades.
And industry experts say
it's difficult to simultaneously optimize for durability,
cost, and comfort.
But for ergonomics, cushioning is key.
- It's been successful to think about foam or leather
on other types of seating.
It would just have to be a material
that could endure high volume of use.
On a scale of one to 10,
economy airline seats would probably fall
around a three or a four
with regards to being ergonomically designed.
- [Host] Jasper's recommendations are based solely
on her expertise in ergonomics.
Not necessarily engineering, safety, cost, and longevity.
- It's a very technical area of design.
There's obviously the constraints of weight.
It's a very engineering-heavy design challenge for sure.
The opportunity for design really stems
from not only giving a little bit more space
back to the passenger,
but perhaps also adding a bit more support
to the components of the seat to provide support
for a range of passengers.
Being a woman who is six feet tall,
my knees are always up against the seat in front of me.
The seats are narrow on my shoulders and hips.
The headrest, it either sort of pushes my head forward
or just sort of misses the mark altogether.
I find myself sort of trying to collapse into the seat
and not disrupt my seatmates,
but at the expense of my ability to move or be comfortable.
It's kind of become this understood experience,
where if you're flying economy,
you have sort of made peace with the idea
that it's probably not going to be
a very comfortable experience.
And are we okay with that?