EDITOR’S LETTER
PAX Tech 26 Pearl Street, Mississauga, Ontario L5M 1X2, Canada Tel: (1 905) 821-3344 Fax: (1 905) 821-2777 Website: www.pax-intl.com
PUBLISHER Aijaz Khan E-mail: aijaz@globalmarketingcom.ca
EDITORIAL OFFICES Rick Lundstrom, Editor-in-Chief PAX Tech 723 Jefferson Street, NE Minneapolis, MN 55413, USA Tel: (1 612) 378-0862 Fax: (1 612) 378-0852 E-mail: rick@pax-intl.com Jane Hobson, Editor Tel: (1 905) 821-3344 x30 E-mail: jane@pax-intl.com Sabrina Pirillo, Associate Editor tel: (1 905) 821-3344 x21 E-mail: sabrina@pax-intl.com Ash Khan, Social Media Coordinator Tel: (1 905) 821-3344 x34 E-mail: ash@pax-intl.com CONTRIBUTORS Mary Jane Pittilla Jeremy Clark
ART DEPARTMENT Jessica Hearn, Art Director E-mail: jessica@globalmarketingcom.ca
ADVERTISING OFFICES Kevin Greene, Advertising and Marketing Manager Tel: (1 905) 821-3344 x31 E-mail: kevin@pax-intl.com PAX International and PAX Tech are published a total of 10 times a year (February, March/ April, May, June, July, September, October, December) by PAX International, 26 Pearl Street, Mississauga, Ontario L5M 1X2,
Living space or pitch?
A
little more than a year ago, a BBC television show called Rip Off Britain brought cameras and reporters to talk to a seating company that tried to explain how increased aircraft density does not necessarily mean less space for the passenger. The company, coincidentally named Pitch Aircraft Seating, is one of the firms that has been working hard to change the reputation of decreased seat pitch with its slim intricately configured PF3000 Economy Class seat. In the show, two people from the company, one six-feet five-inches and the other five-feet eight-inches, both took a seat in an Economy Class mockup to show that while certainly tight, both could maintain a level of comfort needed for what is likely a short flight. The program is no longer available in the Rip Off Britain archive but in the consumer world, the controversy over denser airline cabins lives on. In late fall, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration conducted evacuation testing. According to reports, findings by the FAA will be released this summer. More recently, at this year’s APEX Expo in Los Angeles the new curved back Series 6LC seat from Acro Aircraft Seating took center stage for its ability to more comfortably fly passengers in
dense configurations. One of the people sitting in the seat, was the six-foot plus CEO of APEX, Joe Leader, who wrote in a recent publication for Recaro that seat pitch has become an outdated measurement with the modern construction of seating. “When seat pitch is reduced for efficiency by one inch (or 2.5 centimeters), then the counterbalancing facts of gained space are lost to the traveling public,” he writes. However, such a claim would not be lost to someone like Alastair Hamilton of Collins Aerospace who certainly concurs. With technology moving ahead, as well as industrial design and materials, more room can be found in reduced pitch environments. “Pitch is no longer a very good definer of living space,” Hamilton told PAX. “Airlines are trying to optimize the density of their aircraft and in doing that they are reducing pitch, but they are installing the later generation seats that offer equivalent or better living space.” All of this is rather well known to companies that are setting up stands at the Aircraft Interiors Middle East. However, getting the word out to the occasional airline passenger – who tunes into evening shows like Rip Off Britain – will require giant steps to educate in what they see is still a game of inches.
Canada. International Distribution. Subscriptions: $200 for one year; $300 for two years; $400 for three years. Art and photographs will not be returned unless accompanied by return postage. The views expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publisher or editor. July 2019. All rights reserved. Nothing may be reprinted in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. © PAX International magazine
ISSN 1206-5714 Key title: Pax International
Rick Lundstrom Editor-in-Chief PAX Tech
www.pax-intl.com | PAX TECH | 3
