Just when you think airlines can’t make the flying experience any worse, Airbus comes to the rescue with its latest “treat customers like cattle” air travel innovation.
If an airline doesn’t want to waste its time with low-profit customers — but doesn’t want to blatantly discriminate against them — airlines need a way to make the poor choose to take the bus instead. And Airbus has come up with a great way to inspire low-income travelers to never, ever fly.
The French airplane manufacturer recently patented a seating configuration that borders on the sadistic. Innocuously called “SEATING DEVICE COMPRISING A FORWARD-FOLDABLE BACKREST,” this patent lacks only a mechanism for repairing the damaged spines it will undoubtedly cause anyone who spends more than 10 minutes in it. Hell, the medieval rack sounds more comfortable (and you die at the end).
Whether it ever becomes manufactured and if any airlines adopt it remains to be seen. But judging by the other insults travelers have had to deal with, I certainly wouldn’t bet against seeing this seating configuration in a plane near you soon.