New Economy-Class Seats for Cathay Pacific: Ergonomic or Not?

Ergonomics, the study of how well designed products are in relation to the ease of use and comfort for the consumer, has expanded beyond the boundaries of office equipment during the last few decades. Now, ergonomics serves as a main criteria for design criticism. From simple potato peelers to complex aircrafts, the success of a design relies on the five areas of ergonomics research: safety, comfort, ease of use, performance, and aesthetics. If one area is violated in some way, the current state of the design will not be ergonomic and will receive negative criticism from users of the product. Therefore, these designs will have to be redesigned for improvement. One such design is the new Cathay Pacific economy-class seats that were officially installed back in 2007.

The safety requirement refers to whether or not the design will malfunction or cause harm to the user upon use. In this respect, the new seats by Cathay Pacific pass the test. These seats are sturdy and do not fall apart when weight is placed on them. They are also bolted to the floor of the airplane, preventing them from sliding around during take off, landings, and on flight turbulences. Additionally, the tray tables and tv remote controls are securely fastened by manual knobs and buttons. This minimizes the chances of the tray table and remote control falling and inflicting physical injuries on the passengers during the flight.

However, the design of these new seats begins to show weaknesses when it comes to comfort. Comfort is directly related to the user’s body; a design is considered comfortable when the user is able to physically relax when using the product, and is not reluctant to use it for reasons related to pain. Compared to the older designs, the newer seats reduce discomfort for the passengers sitting behind you. Rather than reclining the seat backwards, passengers “lean back” by sliding out the seat cushions. Certainly, this is good news to the passengers around you who dislike intrusions into their personal space – especially for long-haul flights; however, the comfort of others comes at a cost to the individual passenger. For those who have back problems, these new seats can be a problem. After sliding the seat cushion out, there is little to no back support. In a sense, the passenger is left slouched over at a lower angle. Moreover, the fact that the seat cushion extends forward reduces the leg room between the passenger and the seat in front of him or her. Keeping in mind that the legroom space, or “seat pitch,” remained at 32 inches even after the design of the new seats, one can just imagine the discomfort one will feel having to sit in the same scrunched position for flights longer than twelve hours. (Coming from a family that frequently travels to Hong Kong, I have heard endless complaints about leg cramps and back pain, especially from my brother and father, due to these seats.)

Another characteristic of a well designed product is its ease of use. Successful designs do not require new users to undergo extensive trial and error procedures to learn their functions. Their use should also be effortless. Unfortunately, through personal experience and observations, the reclining feature of these new seats violate the ease of use criteria. This flaw in design is especially disadvantageous for younger passengers. In order for the seat cushion to slide forward, the recliner button must be firmly pressed throughout the duration of the seat adjustment process. To make things more difficult, a certain degree of strength is needed to press the button. Additionally, one must manually slide the seat cushion out. Considering the limited amount of space between the rows of seats, this is easier said than done. It often involves attempts with scooting forward, using leg power and lower body strength to push the seat out, asking flight attendants for help, or annoying the passengers around you due to the extra movement. Overall, the simple task of reclining a seat is made into a complex task due to the poor design of this feature.

On a brighter note, the performance of this design, or how well it works in terms of its purpose, is sufficient. The main purpose for seats on an airplane is for the safe transportation of passengers from one place to another. Being a safe design, Cathay Pacific’s new economy-class seats perform well even when compared to older and current designs.

Lastly, aesthetic, or visual appeal, is considered to be the least important aspect out of the five areas of ergonomics research. However, the outward appearance of a designed product is what essentially attracts customers and invokes criticism. The new seats feature a blue monochromatic pattern. Although it may seem boring, this blue color scheme is well suited for the environment in which the design is used. If the designers decided to make the seat cushions and headrests multi-colored, the flight experience will not be as calming and relaxing as it is now. Not only is the color blue significant to the company of Cathay Pacific, it is also a soothing color that has the ability to calm the mind rather than distract it. Furthermore, the seat cushions are covered by a subtle striped fabric. Wistful circles or swirls can also be seen in addition to the stripes. This fabric offers variety to the design's dominant blue appearance.

In conclusion, despite adequate success in the areas of safety, performance, and aesthetics, Cathay Pacific’s new economy-class seats do not meet ergonomic standards in comfort and ease of use. Even so, partial success is evidence that improvements can be made to create complete success. After all, design is an ongoing conversation in which designs of today will inevitably be redesigned in the future with a common goal: the satisfaction of all five areas of ergonomics research.

*Images taken from Travel Snitch and FlightStory; Credit to Budget Travel and Sean O'Neill