We call 'BS' on these airline seats

Rumours of “standing-only” airline seats have been swirling for years, and last week our friends at Aviation Insider, reignited the conversation asking their followers what they thought about this concept.

What are we talking about?

The so-called “Skyrider” seats were first showcased seven years ago at Hamburg’s 2018 Aircraft Interiors Expo, by the Italian firm Avio Interiors. Unlike a standard economy seat, the Skyrider design, hailed as “innovative” by its makers, resembles more an upright padded bucket seat or perch that passengers can lean against at a 45 degree angle, saving nearly 18 centimetres of space by allowing only around 58 cm of room for each customer.

The aim? Squeeze in 20% more passengers and drop fares to as little as £1 for short-haul routes.

But Airline Ratings like many in the industry are calling BS on this concept.

Airline Ratings CEO Sharon Petersen weighed in:

“This concept is more PR flash than practical future. The aviation safety and financial head on me says there’s no chance and here’s why. The retrofit costs alone would outweigh any revenue made if the fares are going to be as cheap as promised. Every aircraft would also need additional oxygen masks, and an increase in passenger numbers would in many cases throw off the required exit-to-passenger ratio. To stay compliant, you'd end up with maybe four rows of standing seats, which would cost a fortune to install for very little return.”

She also raised a key in-flight logistics issue:

“Could you even serve hot drinks safely? What about cabin crew movement? where does the carry on baggage go? It just doesn’t make sense operationally.”

However, Petersen did acknowledge one upside if (and it's a big if) the many hurdles could be overcome:

“If all the operational, financial, and safety parameters could be met, imagine being able to take a weekend trip with nothing more than a change of clothes, your phone, and a one-pound airfare. A lot of the public backlash focuses on comfort, but I think that’s a misplaced argument — no one is forcing you to buy these seats. It would simply be another option.”

Though the idea has been gaining attention again, it's not new. Avio Interiors has been pitching compact, semi-standing designs for over a decade. Yet regulators like the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have never approved such seating for commercial flights — and show no sign of changing that stance.

As one analyst put it:

“Sure, you might fit in more passengers, but factor in the discomfort, boarding delays, and branding risk. Airlines live and die by their reputation. Making passengers miserable isn’t a long-term strategy.”

In the end, while budget airlines thrive on disruption, standing seats are far more likely to remain a viral talking point than a viable option. As AirlineRatings.com puts it, the industry has seen plenty of wild ideas — but only a few ever get off the ground. At the time of this article going live no airlines or manufacturers have yet signed up to adopt the space-saving design.