Think Your Airline seat Is Small? Sidle Up To The “Flying Saddle”

Why sit when you can ride? That's the idea behind a radical, no-frills concept the SkyRider -- it's a saddle-type device that its creators think airlines could someday use to get the maximum number of passengers in a plane.

At this week's Paris Air Show, Avio Interior's "SkyRider" seat demonstrated what the future of flight could be.  It's a device onto which you lean or straddle, semi-standing, instead of sitting, similar to a saddle on a horse. In so doing, SkyRider cuts down on the space needed for each passenger -- which means airlines can fit more passengers aboard an aircraft.

As the U.K. tabloid The Sun  reports, the SkyRider has yet to be safety tested.  It's also way out of the question for some fliers who are already too big for the conventional seat, and also probably not a good idea for lengthy flights.  But it could someday represent the bargain basement option for air travel.

With airlines pinching pennies -- and charging passengers for everything from legroom to luggage space -- it's no surprise that the carriers are devoted to cramming as many flyers into one plane as possible.  It not only generates income for the companies but also, they'd argue, keeps ticket prices down.