Budget airlines thinking about standing-room 'vertical seats'

[Desi Cartman]

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary will announce a proposal today for "vertical seats", which will provide standing-room spots on short-haul flights for a cost of about £5 ($A8.90). Asked today whether it would consider a similar proposal, Tiger Airways said selling cheap fares meant continually having to innovate and evolve to reduce the cost base. "Tiger Airways doesn't rule anything out," the budget carrier's Australia commercial director, Steve Burns, said. Mr Burns said while there were no immediate plans for vertical seating, "we continue to look at ways of making our operation more efficient so we can offer even lower fares than we do now". "Everything we do is about offering the lowest possible fare then allowing our customers to choose what, if any, extras they wish to pay for," he said.

http://www.theage.com.au/travel/travel-news/ryanair-plan-for-standingroom-vertical-seats-20100702-zru8.html lol at some of the comments people have left on the article What...!?!?!? Why not introduce travelling in coffins - easy stacking, space saving, passengers can be induced into a coma and sleep their way to their destinations....all for a fabulous discount!! How is this company still operating!?! Customers just won't stand for this kind of nonsense. why don't they use shelves instead, jsut like book shelves. They can pack more Next, they will charge passenger for oxygen :hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical:

[Clarke]

Dude its practical for flights which are one hr or so .. and is a market in itself. If we go beyond this duration, whats wrong with standing (sort of) for 3 hrs roundabouts for the aam aadmi in India for instance, who spends more than a day in that so called superfast express train. btw comments are bloody awesome There's something very Silence of The Lambs about this setup...if they can work out how to legally put a cage over your mouth so you can't complain their job will be done. When you check in they strap you into this bad boy, then you are wheeled into the customs inspection area where, suitably restrained, officers can search you without having to worry about you moving. Then, straight onto the plane, pushed by trained monkeys! I understand toilet charge. I will be ably to use the toilet to sit for a while (unless there is a standing-up toilet in the works) Better still, why not add outside chairs like at roller coaster chairs see at fun parks where peoples feet dangle down? I think its a great idea! I wouldnt do it myself of course, but makes a lot of sence! Maybe they could fit the seats in reverse, so we could all sit and watch the people standing, would be great entertainment and for a further discount the same system will be applied to the fuselage and top of wings. Passengers will be asked to raise their arms and flap like little birdies... :hysterical:

[Clarke]

Here's another odd design, which allows 50% more passengers

[DomainK]

Somehow that standing position does not look very comfortable to me. How about they rent a certain amount of space to passengers and leave it to them how they want to sit inside that space? Some passengers would carry their own chairs, some would just sit down on the floor. In fact the airlines can even offer stools on rent.

[flamy]

Somehow that standing position does not look very comfortable to me. How about they rent a certain amount of space to passengers and leave it to them how they want to sit inside that space? Some passengers would carry their own chairs' date=' some would just sit down on the floor. In fact the airlines can even offer stools on rent.[/quote'] i think people would be falling all over each other :dontknow:

[Ram]

Air-travel by itself is so uncomfortable, who cares if it just became more uncomfortable? I am all for standing seats in short flights, especially if its gonna save me money. Its like creating an entire new class in airline travel. There’s the business class, economy and now the ‘low-class’. :D. Though, I have to say, you’ll look like quite a loser in that flight, standing all the way as others enjoy the comfortsof reclining seats..:haha: But Ryanair wants to make passengers pay to even use the restroom. That to me, is pushing it a too far. How could you possibly make people pay for the basic necessities of the human body? And what kind of customer service message are you sending to your passengers, if you’re telling them that you don’t even care about looking after their basic needs and you want to make money out of every single avenue available ?

[achilles]

Desi rocks :hysterical:

[Desi Cartman]

Air-travel by itself is so uncomfortable, who cares if it just became more uncomfortable? I am all for standing seats in short flights, especially if its gonna save me money. Its like creating an entire new class in airline travel. There’s the business class, economy and now the ‘low-class’. :D. Though, I have to say, you’ll look like quite a loser in that flight, standing all the way as others enjoy the comfortsof reclining seats..:haha: But Ryanair wants to make passengers pay to even use the restroom. That to me, is pushing it a too far. How could you possibly make people pay for the basic necessities of the human body? And what kind of customer service message are you sending to your passengers, if you’re telling them that you don’t even care about looking after their basic needs and you want to make money out of every single avenue available ?

Wont it be stupid to have standing - seats ( :dontknow:) and free restrooms .. dont u think ppl would then go to the toilet and sit for free :yikes: A reply on the newspaper's website I understand toilet charge. I will be able to use the toilet to sit for a while (unless there is a standing-up toilet in the works)

[Clarke]

But Ryanair wants to make passengers pay to even use the restroom. That to me' date=' is pushing it a too far. How could you possibly make people pay for the basic necessities of the human body? And what kind of customer service message are you sending to your passengers, if you’re telling them that you don’t even care about looking after their basic needs and you want to make money out of every single avenue available ?[/quote'] Someone already commented on the toilets as desi indicated. To be frank, thats the way a free market moves. There are few businesses that are as tough to run as airlines. U invest billions in airlines, pay massive overhead on infrastructure and fuel, immense safety challenges, unionized staff and big insurance costs being the most basic challenges. All this for moving customers across thousands of miles in a few hrs for a few hundred dollars in relative comfort.

[DomainK]

i think people would be falling all over each other :dontknow:

Then the brand can promote itself as a romantic airlines. "Come aboard to fall on each other and fall in love."

[Aaku]

the comments are hilarious :hysterical:

[achilles]

Imagine someone queueing outside a toilet saying, "Saar, 5$, lemme thru, otherwise I wet the floor and I dont pay you". Imagine ppl actually queueing up outside the toilet, holding themselves, waitin desperately, while a moron argues with the attendant. This would be India coming alive on an Airplane in Australia :woot:

[Ram]

Wont it be stupid to have standing - seats ( :dontknow:) and free restrooms .. dont u think ppl would then go to the toilet and sit for free :yikes:

Haha, that’s funny. They’ll probably have timed toilet session. Who knows, it might start beeping and flashing lights after two minutes. :D

Someone already commented on the toilets as desi indicated. To be frank, thats the way a free market moves. There are few businesses that are as tough to run as airlines. U invest billions in airlines, pay massive overhead on infrastructure and fuel, immense safety challenges, unionized staff and big insurance costs being the most basic challenges. All this for moving customers across thousands of miles in a few hrs for a few hundred dollars in relative comfort.

I know it’s a tough, uncompriming business where profit margins are slim, but surely, wasn’t ‘Customer Service and satisfaction’ the USP of airlines? Isnt it what they used so frequently to distinsguish themselves from the competition? Somehow, the concept of Customer service and paid toilets simply don’t seem to reconcile with each other. But eh, as you said, it’s the free market and if that’s the direction they want to take, so be it. As always, it’s the customer who will decide whether this is a good idea or not, some some Harvard MBA mulling over his powerpoint presentation and market research studies originally though it’d be a good idea.

[Gunner_Mania]

A standing room only ticket is, traditionally, dirt-cheap. So it's easy to see why this idea appeals to both a no-frills carrier and its bargain-hungry customers. Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary - fond of speculating publicly about outlandish money-saving schemes - says his airline is considering vertical seats akin to bar stools with seatbelts. Despite talk of safety testing and tickets selling for £4 or less, aviation experts say such plans are pie in the sky. It's not the first time the airline has floated the standing seats idea, or indeed come up with headline grabbing schemes which fail to materialise. Charging passengers to use loos is another example, as is a so-called fat-tax - surcharging overweight flyers. So why announce innovations which that don't happen? It's down to Ryanair's unique approach to PR. "They've only got one message, which is no frills. Ryanair is all about getting you from A to B as cheaply as possible," says Danny Rogers, editor of PR Week magazine. So everything Mr O'Leary says emphasises the message that his airline strips its operations to the bone to keep costs down. Even its publicity comes cheap, given his headline-grabbing ways, be it wearing a Germany shirt to a press conference after England's World Cup defeat, or speculating about charging passengers a pound to spend a penny. "It's kind of genius. There were catcalls from the assembled journalists when he wore the Germany shirt. But that picture was used in all the papers," says Mr Rogers. "His message was that now England are out of World Cup, it's time to get away. "Journalists love him because he provides good quotes and good pictures, and compelling top lines for their stories. And it's a strategy that works for them - they fly more people than BA or Easyjet." So are customers likely to be disappointed if vertical seats never materialise? "No. I don't think people really want to fly standing up. They just want cheap tickets." Which is fortunate, because Boeing, manufacturer of Ryanair's fleet of 737-800s, rules out the concept. "We are not considering standing-only accommodations, nor do we have any plans to do so," says spokesman Nick West. "Among other things, stringent regulatory requirements - including seats capable of withstanding a force of 16 Gs - pretty much preclude such an arrangement." Sixteen Gs is 16 times the force of gravity, so the seats must be strong enough - and strongly secured enough - not to topple over like dominos in the event of a crash. Vertical seats would require more reinforcing than standard seats, because the passenger's centre of gravity is higher. "More reinforcement means heavier planes which use more fuel, and that's the last thing Ryanair wants," says David Learmount, operations and safety editor of Flight International. "They'd end up having to reinforce the floor, and possibly the bulkheads too if the seats need to be secured top and bottom. And how many points of contact would the straps have to have? Across the body, perhaps securing the ankles, the knees, the head?" Which sounds like the Hannibal Lecter way to fly. "Exactly. How many passengers would be prepared to put up with that?" Another company said to have considered this is China's Spring Airlines, a privately-owned low-cost carrier keen to increase capacity on its Airbus A380s and further drive down the cost of plane tickets for those willing to forgo comforts such as sitting down, meals and drinks. But it has since shelved the idea as unworkable, says Mr Learmount. Stand-sted Any new design for seats must pass strict safety requirements set out by the European Aviation Safety Authority (EASA). These are broadly the same across the world. "These set out what a seat must comply with, such as being able to restrain a passenger during take-off, landing and turbulence, the flammability of the fabric, and g-load bearing in case of a crash," says a Civil Aviation Authority spokesman. "They test g-load bearing to make sure the seats won't topple over or come loose in an accident." It will be up to the manufacturer to get permission for their product from the EASA, he says. Despite the naysayers, Ryanair's press office remains resolutely Pollyanna-ish about being able to offer passengers vertical seats. When pressed, the spokesman concedes Boeing has not agreed to its plan. "It is still at the discussion stage, yes. There are fairground rides that take people from zero to 4 Gs without the protection of an aircraft fuselage. If they can do that, and Boeing can help people get to the Moon, then it should be able to develop an upright seating design." But is Ryanair just using the press for publicity by announcing schemes that may never happen? The spokesman denies the suggestion - saying Ryanair didn't set out to publicise the standing seats story. It came through a TV interview with Mr O'Leary. The plan to charge passengers to go to the loo will only happen if the standing seats idea goes ahead. As for the fat tax - the idea has been dropped, he says. Travel expert Simon Calder, of the Independent newspaper, pours yet more cold water on plans for vertical seats. "It'll never happen, or at least it won't not for a long time. Ryanair has only one type of aircraft, the Boeing 737-800, and it is licensed for 189 people. "Even if you take the toilets out at the back and charge people £1 to use the one remaining toilet, even if you take out rows of seats and we all stand up, and the Civil Aviation Authority agrees that's a safe way to travel, you still can't carry more than 189 people. So I'm afraid you'll still get your standard seat." So strap hanging on a plane looks a long way off.