Airline seat
Typically this will be the rear row of the cabin where a rear bulkhead blocks the recline, or seats immediately in front of the emergency exit where a reclined seat might restrict access to the emergency exit, creating a potential safety hazard.
During take-off and landing the crew ask passengers to put their seats in an "upright" (unreclined) position[2] and to lift and stow their tray tables.
Rarely, economy class may also include a mechanically adjustable lumbar support on some long-haul aircraft.
Some business class cabins feature seats that recline to a sloped flat position.
In an 14 April 2015 hearing of the DOT's Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protection, Cynthia Corbett, an investigator for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Civil Aerospace Medical Institute, discussed concerns regarding the emergency evacuation of higher capacity aircraft.
[3] The citizens' group "Flyers Rights" brought a case against the FAA in 2017, arguing that the agency had a responsibility to prevent seats from becoming so cramped as to become a safety issue in an emergency.
[5] Such seats have been installed in some of the aircraft of Aer Lingus, Delta Air Lines, Emirates,[citation needed] American Airlines, and Avianca, amongst others.
Southwest Airlines previously offered a few rearward-facings seats on some aircraft but that scheme has now ended.
On the safety aspect, the argument has been that during a plane crash, debris, such as luggage, will fly forward in the cabin, quite possibly into the passengers in rearward-facing seats.
No minimum limits have been prescribed by aviation authorities for seat sizing on transport category aircraft.
Airlines have claimed that a reduction of seat pitch can be compensated for by a thinner seat-back design.
[18] In 2013, Airbus said, for long haul flights, there should be an industry standard for a minimum seat width of 18 inches in economy cabins, but its rival Boeing argued it was up for airlines to decide.
[19] People have been getting wider: the weight of the average American male in his 40s had increased by 10 percent in the 30 years from the 1970 introduction of the Boeing 747.
[20] When Airbus introduced its A380, it offered 10-abreast seating, giving each passenger up to 19 inches of hip space.
[20] A research report commissioned by Airbus concluded that an extra inch in seat width improves sleep quality by 53 percent.
[21] An airplane "aisle chair" is a mobile seat provided by airlines for passengers who require the use of a wheelchair.
The aisle chair affords the wheelchair passenger assisted mobility in boarding and disembarking, and in-flight movement within the cabin such as to the lavatory.
[22] Airline seats are designed to be lightweight, but at the same time strong and fire resistant, while also taking into account passenger comfort.
Even so, several airlines, including low-cost carriers, choose leather not only to present a more "luxurious" product, but also because such seats are easier to clean and prevent spilt liquids from soaking through to the padding for reduced turnaround issues.
[23] In the fairly early days of aviation, airline seats were typically of soft, earthy colors such as light browns and gray, which were intended to calm the passengers.
The seat itself normally contains a small flip-out, extendable tray table (which must be folded away during takeoff and landing), and, on most wide-body international aircraft, an LCD video screen directly above the tray table (earlier aircraft had a single large projection screen at the front of each cabin).
Regulations require them to be open during landings and takeoffs, to provide visibility into and out of the aircraft in emergencies.
Many armrests provide devices for reclining the chair, control handsets for in-flight entertainment systems.
