Frequently Asked Questions
Who slides the seat into place?
Unloading: As passengers get off the aircraft they will slide the seat across to make the aisle wider. Of course flight attendants and cleaning crews can also slide the seats into the the wider aisle configuration to prepare for the next passengers to load.
Loading: The seats should be in the wider-aisle configuration as passengers come onboard, they simply walk to their seat and slide the seat into place and take their seat.
What are the aisle widths?
The minimum aisle width (by regulation is 20"). So our aisle is 20" in flight and during loading/unloading opens up to 42".
How can you make the middle seat wider without making the other two seats narrower?
Our staggered design permits the seat frames to mount on top of each other which offers more width to be placed into the middle seat.
How do all passengers get more living space?
Our staggered design means that adjacent passengers now have their arms, elbows, shoulders and thighs staggered. It doesn't look like a lot but when you sit in the seat you notice it instantly, it makes a huge difference.
Is there more legroom?
The airline control the pitch (which dictates legroom), we are only able to offer more lateral space, which we do.
Which loading process must be used?
It doesn't matter; the wider aisle makes all loading processes faster. The best is the rear to front loading, but whether an airline uses: random boarding, reverse pyramid or outside-in, we are faster. The seat is designed for the Low Cost Airlines with one class, but the advantage of the Side-Slip Seat comes in the increased manuvering space a passenger has when they reach their seat. The 'hang time' used to stop the flow of passengers down the aisle, now it does not.
Does it recline?
The Side-Slip Seat is pre-reclined and designed for short-haul, Low Cost airlines. Our long-haul economy Stagger Seat does recline.
What happens if someone sits in the aisle seat but doesn't slide it into place first?
We have designed the seat to be able to handle that scenario, its canterlever is very robust. So that passenger would just have to get up, slide it into place and take their seat. As an added design feature the aisle passenger can only put on their seat belt when the seat is in the locked 'flight' position.
How do I know if the seat is locked in place?
We have a visual indicator that allows passengers and flight attendants to confirm the seat is locked in place. Our locking mechanism is very robust and has complete 50,000 cycles during our reliability testing. The aisle and middle seat passengers seat belt also acts as a secondary locking mechanism to keep the seat locked in place.
How long will these seats last?
Minor line maintenance will be required on the sliding bushings every few years, besides that the seats will last just as long as any seat available today.