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The issue is that airlines would simply modify this design to increase passenger density instead of offering the same density but with more space. The solution

The issue is that airlines would simply modify this design to increase passenger density instead of offering the same density but with more space. The solution to ever-shrinking space in the airplane, however, is economic, not technical. Imagine if you could select a 1X-3X room in increments of 0.5X with proportional pricing when you buy a ticket. Airline does not lose money and customers get what they can afford. Right now we only have 1X, 1.15X and 3X options which unfortunately neither sufficient to fit the curve or even have same distribution or pricing.

crooked-v 7y ago
Well, and it's basically impossible to comparison shop flights with seat space or comfort as a filtering element. Right now the only really usable criteria are price and number of free bags.
- sytelus 7y ago
  This. Comparison shopping for airplane tickets is what killed flight comfort.
- vanniv 7y ago
  It is getting easier again. Google Flights gives indications on each leg whether it is roomy, average, or tight. For premium classes, it reports recliner, angle-flat, or lie-flat. You still can't search by it, though. This isn't much, but it is integrated into a flight search engine. Of course, if you really want to know, there are sites like seatguru with all the details (but average travelers are never going to look for that)
vanniv 7y ago
This is for a premium economy class. The existence of premium economy is already us reaching the point where people are prepared to pay more for more. Airlines believe that they can make more money selling fewer seats at higher prices -- at a price point typically 50-100% above economy, for about 50-70% more space. The thing is, most flights only have 3 rows of premium economy (except some ultra-long-haul Singapore Air flights) -- right now, most people still want to buy whatever is cheapest -- partially because international travel is actually out of their budget, and so taking that basic-economy cheap fare is part of finding a way to go at all, and partially for a reason that I don't think airlines appreciate (they've made people expect service and comfort to be absolutely horrid, and so many customers wouldn't pay more for better because they don't trust the airline to be capable of providing better, and assume the higher prices are just a rip-off and not actually a better product.)

crooked-v 7y ago

Well, and it's basically impossible to comparison shop flights with seat space or comfort as a filtering element. Right now the only really usable criteria are price and number of free bags.

sytelus 7y ago
This. Comparison shopping for airplane tickets is what killed flight comfort.
vanniv 7y ago
It is getting easier again. Google Flights gives indications on each leg whether it is roomy, average, or tight. For premium classes, it reports recliner, angle-flat, or lie-flat. You still can't search by it, though. This isn't much, but it is integrated into a flight search engine. Of course, if you really want to know, there are sites like seatguru with all the details (but average travelers are never going to look for that)

vanniv 7y ago

This is for a premium economy class. The existence of premium economy is already us reaching the point where people are prepared to pay more for more. Airlines believe that they can make more money selling fewer seats at higher prices -- at a price point typically 50-100% above economy, for about 50-70% more space. The thing is, most flights only have 3 rows of premium economy (except some ultra-long-haul Singapore Air flights) -- right now, most people still want to buy whatever is cheapest -- partially because international travel is actually out of their budget, and so taking that basic-economy cheap fare is part of finding a way to go at all, and partially for a reason that I don't think airlines appreciate (they've made people expect service and comfort to be absolutely horrid, and so many customers wouldn't pay more for better because they don't trust the airline to be capable of providing better, and assume the higher prices are just a rip-off and not actually a better product.)