from Hacker News

Low cost airlines will officially launch 'standing only seats' in 2026

by GeoAtreides on 5/21/25, 2:59 PM with 12 comments

• by bmink on 5/21/25, 3:07 PM

  > These seats will increase passenger capacity on airlines by 20 per cent

  > Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary […] wants his Boeing's 737 and 800 fitted with 10 rows of them, and 15 rows of traditional seats.

  > Michael has suggested the standing tickets may potentially cost as little as £1 to £5.

  According to Google, a 737 has a max seating capacity of 230.

  Increasing that by 20% would be 46 seats more. So all this to take in around 50-230 pounds (or dollars, whatever) per flight?

• by pavel_lishin on 5/21/25, 3:15 PM

  Even if you're just sort of leaning onto one of those things, it looks like there's absolutely no room for anyone's knees.

  And what happens if you're shorter or taller than the norm? One hopes you can at least adjust these up and down - otherwise, a tall person will effectively be fully seated with their knees jammed into the seat in front of them, while a short person will be able to dangle their legs.

• by bell-cot on 5/21/25, 3:19 PM

  Not mentioned - if the total passenger headcount increases - vs. just using these sardine seats to expand the 1st Class section - then there are safety certification issues. Specifically, the requirement that all passengers be able to evacuate in 90 seconds. (In case of a fire, crash, or whatever.)

• by impish9208 on 5/21/25, 6:40 PM

  Hey, I suggested this here a while back.

  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42335258

• by jeegsy on 5/21/25, 5:05 PM

  This has to be a black mirror episode right?

• by jasonthorsness on 5/21/25, 3:43 PM

  As someone with long legs I wonder if this will actually be more comfortable than close-packed traditional seats.