Commercial airlines have been hit hard with the recent increase in fuel prices. Of course reducing seat weight by itself is not particularly difficult, the challenge for aircraft seating manufacturers and innovators becomes minimizing the weight and the amount of space aircraft seating takes up, while maximizing the comfort level of passengers, and adhering to the strict legal code of safety and comfort laws, ergonomics and safety are of the highest priority and cannot be compromised.
It has been frequently suggested that the weight of the aircraft can be significantly reduced while maintaining the ergonomics and safety of seating by removing unnecessary parts from the aircraft. Aircraft seating carries substantial weight and has been targeted as the primary means to an overall lighter aircraft. Reducing the weight of the seat and reducing its width, which is also imperative for freeing up more space and accommodating a higher payload or more passengers has been collectively deemed the most lucrative area of investment, allowing the potential for the most lucrative results. A lot of additional parts such as the back reclining hydraulic cylinders, brackets and brushings that carry a lot of weight can be made with different materials. The CBM Lap Belt Anchor point can be lowered to lower the SRP, this contributes to weight reduction because a lowered arm and torque will put pressure against the floor. Thus the Leg can be constructed with less weight and still pass test accelerations. There are also many light materials that can be used; some examples are the new aluminum alloys, as well as carbon fibres and composites which are currently being experimented with. Air chamber cushions can also be employed for the seat back and headrest, this would reduce the weight of polyurethane foams. The ultimate goal of commercial aircraft carriers is to maximize revenues; this can be done by maximizing the useful load. Useful load = the difference between maximum takeoff weight and the basic weight of the aircraft without the load. Useful load in this case is essentially the maximum load your particular aircraft can handle. This is a combination of fuel, pilots, passengers, baggage, as well as cargo. In this regard, useful load, or the weight being carried on the aircraft can only be decreased for example by taking out cabinets and other non-essentials and amenities commercial airplanes have, although in most cases this is out of the question, because the business of commercial aircraft carriers requires those amenities in order to compete with other airlines.
So the obvious solution is to reduce the weight of the essential aircraft components and perhaps removed some non essentials. Unfortunately it isn’t as simple as this. You can’t just remove whatever items you believe unnecessary without first testing the aircraft and assume the aircraft itself is going to be unaffected by what may appear to be a minor alteration. Taking items out of the aircraft increases the aircrafts useful load and the increase in useful load will naturally affect the aircrafts center of gravity (CG). The safety of passengers will in this case be compromised. Every time an alteration to the BEW is made or installed items are removed or added to the aircraft, the BEW and CG must be reassessed and recalculated in order to ensure that the CG limits are not surpassed. This is a very complicated process.
Aside from the fact that safety is of the utmost importance when it pertains to seating and anything installed on the aircraft, ergonomics or the level of comfort they provide to passengers, along with their relative suitability for passengers is essential. The comfort of seating vs. the size of the seat can be measured using the terms pitch and width. Pitch of course indicates the amount of legroom passengers have but actually more specifically refers to the space between one point on the seat to the same point on the seat in front of it. This is generally measured in inches, however more pitch doesn’t just equal more legroom: it also directly affects the thickness of the back of the seat. The amount of legroom that passengers get in a commercial aircraft will depend on what class they travel in. Typically, an economy class aircraft provides 30 to 32 inches of legroom or pitch. A reduction in seat pitch which would typically affect the ergonomics or the comfort level of passengers can be compensated for by a thinner seat-back design. The largest seat pitch you’ll find in commercial airlines is in the short haul economy section which boasts a 37 inch seat pitch. In certain airlines, business class seats are 62 inch, this is the largest pitch, US Airways, in their Airbus A330-300’s, have a seat pitch of 94 inches.
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