Southwest Airline’s new seats have travelers vowing to fly Delta.
The airline previewed a revamped cabin coming early next year in a video posted to TikTok, and commenters blasted the new seats as “lawn chairs” and “Ozempic seats” for their thin frame, and said they’d be booking flights with competitors.
The seating was designed by Recaro Aircraft Seating, a manufacturer whose holding company is also involved in automotive and gaming seating. Their seats, they say, come with a personal electronic device holder for a more convenient in-flight phone or tablet movie viewing experience as well as multi-adjustable headrest cushion that the airlines says will provide “enhanced head and neck support.” But viewers of Southwest’s preview couldn’t get over the chair’s thin frame.
Recaro Aircraft Seating says its own internal ergonomics teams performs comfort studies when developing seats and that Southwest also tested the seats in multiple rounds with passengers and employees, resulting in “a custom seat unique to Southwest that tested better than what is currently flown today.”
“Depending on the seat type, study participants will spend ‘flight time in the seats’ to analyze comfort and functionality,” the company tells Fast Company. “It’s also crucial to emphasize our commitment to safety, adherence to regulatory requirements, and the dedication to quality and sustainability throughout the platform design process.”
The company says it made “additional comfort enhancements” after testing the seats with Southwest customers, including wider headrests and additional cushioning, and they cautioned against judging comfort from a rendering.
“The visual is a 2D rendering of the overall cabin design and aesthetics, and not a representation of the seat thickness or comfort,” the company says.
Some of the earliest airline seats were wicker chairs, but seat design evolved in the 20th century as comfort became a differentiator among competitors. Today, though, travelers often complain about seating that seems more designed for corporate profits than human comfort.
Business class seating can still be comfy. Recaro produces luxury aircraft seating like one cushy model that comes with an adjustable calf rest and cocktail table, but its economy class seating is designed for the way airlines fly now—fitting as many people in the plane as possi ble
The seating manufacturer says on its website that the trend toward lighter seats is due to a drive to reduce fuel consumption, but “successful seating concepts call for much more than low weight alone. Comfort and living space also play a decisive role.”
Whether or not they were successful, then, will depend on how comfy travelers find the seats when they begin rolling out next year.
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