Unergonomic design of airline seats
2008
Referring to the article by Gavin Burt in the summer 2008 edition of Talkback
Dear Editor
I refer to the article by Gavin Burt in the summer edition of Talkback, in which he refers to the appalling unergonomic design of airline seats. This has been a continuing ‘gripe’ of mine since I began suffering from back problems decades ago and when I first became a supporter of BackCare. Despite enquiries of coach firms, I have been unable to contact the designer of these awful seats, which has been unchanged as long as I can remember. (They obviously come from the same mould, whoever buys them.)
Because of this, it is an ordeal to travel by any form of public transport, particularly long journeys on coach holidays. I use a lumbar support cushion on all seats but now I have begun to suffer from coccyx pain, I need this cushion (with a handy hole at the back) to sit on as well as another in the lumbar region.
Of course, this causes the idiotic 'headrest' to rest across the back of my shoulder blades – which highlights another problem! What is the point of the 'headrest'? As everyone is a different height, it is going to be level with the head on only a few people, and even when it is, it leaves the back of the neck unsupported, which a 'blow-up' cushion does not actually help.
I am not ‘on-line’ so can get no help with this, but is there any hope that your organisation can find out who to lobby about this problem, which must make travel very difficult for so many people. The annoying thing is that the badly-shaped seats used must be more expensive to make than ones that just slope back slightly with no 'headrest'!
I wrote about this some years ago, and I was told that BackCare was going to run a campaign about it but I cannot recall that it came about. Thank you for a very good magazine.
Mrs D E – Northants
Response
Being 6' 5'' myself, I recognise the problems Mrs D E is facing with seats in coaches, airplanes and actually most other seats in public places. Our discussions with the industry so far show that it often comes down to a cost issue. Fully adjustable seats are generally speaking more expensive than standard ones that accommodate 95% of the population. So comfort comes with a price! However many may not be able or willing to pay this extra cost. This is why it is important to find a way of travelling that is most comfortable (or least uncomfortable) to you.
In ‘40 tips for a healthy back’ (Autumn Talkback), we gave some tips on driving and travelling. The key thing is to try to prevent sitting in a single position for too long. If you take an aisle seat, you can get up and stretch regularly or go for a short walk. By no means will this completely prevent discomfort, but it is something we can all do in any situation. Dries Hettinga Head of Research and Policy
Dries Hettinga
Head of Research and Policy