Airline Flights to Become SRO?

Drudge is reporting that Airbus is offering some interesting cabin layouts to its Asian customers (from the NY Times):

The airlines have come up with a new answer to an old question: How many passengers can be squeezed into economy class?

A lot more, it turns out, especially if an idea still in the early stage should catch on: standing-room-only "seats."

Airbus has been quietly pitching the standing-room-only option to Asian carriers, though none have agreed to it yet. Passengers in the standing section would be propped against a padded backboard, held in place with a harness, according to experts who have seen a proposal.

But even short of that option, carriers have been slipping another row or two of seats into coach by exploiting stronger, lighter materials developed by seat manufacturers that allow for slimmer seatbacks. The thinner seats theoretically could be used to give passengers more legroom but, in practice, the airlines have been keeping the amount of space between rows the same, to accommodate additional rows.

I can't imaging that the FAA would every approve having passengers stand on any domestic U.S. flight, but maybe the Asian regulators don't care. They way they pack folks into their subways over there, it wouldn't surprise me if they took the option.

The news that airlines are again adding seats in economy class is especially bad news for us tall folks. For a few years American advertised "more room in coach" and in fact, the seats were pretty comfortable. That has all changed, and the last couple of flights I made on American were back in their cattle car formation. With the loss of meals, and in some cases every snacks and free beverages, not to mention the hassles just trying to get on the plane, airline travel will become an increasing ordeal for those that can't afford to sit up front.