Scary New Airplane Seats

Think air travel cannot become any more cramped and uncomfortable? Think again. Thanks to Zodiac Seats, the leading provider of airline seats, you’ll be as cramped in the shoulders as your legs are today if you pay regular fare.

Zodiac recently filed a patent that could completely change how you travel in the sky, and it won’t be fun.

To squeeze even more passengers into the same amount of space, the company designed a hexagon seating arrangement for aircraft cabins. The new design would require passengers to sit in alternating front or rear facing seats. If facing the front of the plane, people on either side of you would be rear-facing, and most likely staring at you throughout the flight.

Leg room is already at a premium. When you travel, want room for your legs, too? Pay extra for them. According to the patent, you might soon also need to pay for an upgrade if you want to take your shoulders, too.

“The seats are positioned at the same longitudinal position within the cabin, so that the space needed at shoulder and arm area is limiting on passenger comfort,” the patent says.

Already, if you want to travel and have room for your legs, you’re required to pay more, much more, like go first class. Soon, if you want room for your shoulders along with the rest of your body, you’ll have to pay more.

To read more about the design and to see other photos, click here.