Airbus Files Patent for Bench-Style Seating

If you think seats on an airplane are too small or are wedged too close together already, prepare to breath and stretch out, because bucket seats may soon be replaced by an armrest-less style of seats. Raise the armrest and get ready to snuggle with your neighbor if Airbus´s new patent for bench-style seating on airplanes is approved.

© Airbus | US Patent & Trademark Office

In an effort to cope with the expanding size of the passenger and the inevitable special needs of families with younger children, the solution is to allow certain sections of three seats on an aircraft to become larger or smaller depending on the passengers´ needs. Adjustable seat belts and armrests mean that a mother and father can sit on either side of a small child, or an adult passenger can opt for more seat room. The versatile seats can also seat passengers in the standard three-person-across arrangement, only adjustable for passengers who request it.

There is a price for this added convenience, however. Airlines will most surely charge more for these flexible seats that can welcome all kinds of passengers. Whether this type of seating will appear in the aircraft of the future is unknown, but as the needs of travelers change over time, so do the accommodating features of the vessel in which they fly.