The double-decker airplane seat is back. Here's what it looks like now

[jmowreader]

13. Eight problems come immediately to mind

First, what aircraft are you going to put this on? Boeing 737s and single-aisle Airbuses don’t have enough room between the floor and ceiling to hold this. A Boeing 777 or an A350 will hold it, but those jets already have enough seats.

Second problem: maximum takeoff weight. Anything that flies has one. This thing looks extremely heavy, you’ve got to fill it with people to make buying it worthwhile, and all those people have luggage.

Problem 2a: most of the people in this problem have carry-on luggage on normal aircraft. This seating plan ensures everyone’s going to have to check all their bags, so airports’ baggage handling systems will become even more overloaded than they already are.

Problem 3: cargo holds on most planes aren’t big enough to deal with this.

Problem 4: airlines make a lot of their profit hauling cargo. A half-full flight can still be profitable if you’ve got the cargo to make up for it. With the cargo holds full of passenger bags, there won’t be any room for that.

Problem 5: load factors. If you have a route that regularly fills 325 seats, do you want to fly it in a plane that used to hold 200…or do you want to fly it in a 777 and have all that extra room in the holds for cargo? Yeah, that’s what I thought. Alternately, do you want to remove a flight per day from your schedule so you can fill this plane…and have even less room for cargo?

Problem 6: exploding pax. Dude, airliners don’t have enough lavatories NOW! Stuff a bunch of extra passengers on a plane with one latrine at the front and one at the back and you’re really going to have problems.

Problem 7: customer satisfaction. This guarantees there will be even less than there is now.

Problem 8: what happens when you hit a patch of turbulence and half the passengers smack their faces against the backs of the seats in front of them?