Aircraft Passenger Seat BACKGROUND

15 Figure 2.1 Hypothetical models of discomfort and comfort. Diagram reprinted from Zhang and Helander, 2006

2.2.2 Aircraft Passenger Seat

The aviation industry is a highly competitive industry. In the past, the aviation industry focused on the business class and premiere class sections that enable the higher profit margin than the economy class section. Nowadays, the profit margins of the aviation industry have been undercut by the low cost airlines. The booming business relationship between Asia and Europe strongly encourages business long haul air travel between regions. To secure the market share, the airline companies offer attractive service and hardware to ensure a comfortable air travel for aircraft passengers. The aircraft seat manufacturers also play an important role to design and manufacture aircraft seat for comfortable air travel. Current Aircraft Passenger Seat A Swiss company designed an air chamber to replace the conventional foam of aircraft seat. The company claimed that the air chamber cushion is able to adapt to the seating positions of aircraft passenger Lantal Textiles, 2010a. Since year 2009, all business class and first class seats of the SWISS airline for long‐haul fleet Transition Discomfort: Poor Biomechanics and Tiredness Comfort: Well Being and Plushness 16 were installed with the air cushion system Figure 2.2. Four seat companies, namely BE Aerospace, Contour, ZIM Flugsitz and Recaro, implemented Lantal’s air cushion system in their aircraft seats Lantal Textiles, 2010b. The Lantal’s pneumatic comfort system is a passive control system, where passenger needs to adjust the hardness of the air chamber manually. Figure 2.2 Air cushion system of Swiss Air first class and business class seat. Photograph reprinted from Swiss Air, 2010 Thompson Solutions developed a new economy seat, the Cozy Suite Figure 2.3. The purpose of this seat is to help aircraft passengers to sleep. The seat has a contoured shoulder area and wider knee space between seats James and Kington, 2008. The new seat design claims to increase 14 of economy class passenger seats in Boeing B767‐400. The Cozy Suite focuses on legroom, armrests, airline revenues, seat quantity, ease of egress, personal space and dedicated sleeping area Thompson Aero Seating, 2009. 17 Figure 2.3 The Cozy Suite. Photograph reprinted from Thompson Solutions, 2010 BE Aerospace exhibited its economy class ‘Spectrum’ passenger seat. The seat platform is 10 lighter in weight and provides over 14 additional space. The developed seat includes a sculpted Crytalflex back support system and meets the 2009 Head Injury Criteria requirements. RECARO Aircraft Seating presented a new version of its single‐beam Comfort Line 3610 economy class seat Figure 2.4. The seat increases the legroom even at a relatively short seat pitch. The seat has comfort features including kinematics that improve the seating angle, a flexible headrest, a foot net and ultra‐thin lightweight aluminum backrest with comfort netting James and Kington, 2008. Figure 2.4 The Comfort Line 3610 economy class seat Photograph reprinted from RECARO, 2009. 18 Air New Zealand introduced the ‘Skycouch’ Figure 2.5, a lie‐flat economy class and premium economy class seat in year 2010. The ‘Skycouch’ is a lie‐flat seat which consist a row of three seats. The seat can be changed to a kid playground or a flat surface for passengers to relax and sleep Air New Zealand, 2010. Figure 2.5 The Skycouch Photograph reprinted from Dailymail, 2010.

2.2.3 Objectifying and Subjectifying of Seat DisComfort