First time here? Check out the site's "greatest hits" or read a random post from the archives. Feel free to ask a question, and consider subscribing to the latest posts via RSS or e-mail. Thanks for visiting!

A couple readers grumbled via e-mail that yesterday’s post about Singapore Airlines’ improvements to business and first class cabins glossed over the improvements to coach, which most people will actually be flying. In my defense, I was at least discussing scheduled, commercial travel, and not the mega-bling of private jumbo-jets, as was on the front business page of the New York Times yesterday.

So allow me, as a Man of the People, to give economy class its due.

No doubt, Singapore’s economy-class seat is a big step up from the average aircraft seat. In-seat power. A 10.6 inch video screen with on-demand video, computer games, and access to Sun Microsystems’ StarOffice suite. (Bring a USB key, I guess.) Seats are redesigned to offer more room at the knees without actually moving the seats any further apart (32 inches of pitch). Small footrests fold out from the seat in front of you.

I’m not quite sure about the reading lamp (I hope and assume that the overhead lamp remains an option). And the option of a word processor at every seat doesn’t seem like it would be too necessary, if you have in-seat power for a laptop.

Cathay Pacific’s new economy seat appears on its surface to have less sexy features than the Singapore counterpart, but it has the potential to be more comfortable. The seat has a few interesting redesigns, including a hard-shell seatback which prevents the passenger in front of you from leaning back into you. Recline stays within the shell, much like a business class pod. The Cathay literature describes features like active back support. An odd feature: The seatback pocket is moved to the seat itself, behind your calves. This has the potential to be odd or uncomfortable.

But while Singapore is limiting the new seats to their newly-purchased planes, Cathay Pacific is rolling this new seat out across the fleet. We’ll see who “wins.”

Finally, Virgin Atlantic is in the process of redesigning their coach seating. Don’t expect any announcements yet, but the design process and mockups of the seats under discussion are described in detail in this article from Fast Company.

Naturally, any of these improvements would be welcome in the U.S. market.

(image)