Seating Question

eveange5

Newbie
Oct 23, 2003
6
0
Hi all flight attendants!,

I have a quick question for you guys. I'm a design student and I'm designing a new 'family class' for travellers with children. i tried to find statistics on the average numbers of family travelling in a plane but no success. I dont have any numbers therefore dont know how much space i should give to this new 'family class'. I was wandering if you guys have any suggestion to the amount of seat I should give them. I just need your opinion, just to have an idea of how much room i need to provide. It would be of so much help!
thanks!

evelyne
 
Evelyne:

The numbers of families who fly, varies with the destination. From anywhere to Orlando (Disneyworld), the numbers would be much higher than, say, between New York and Chicago. I wouldn't even try to work out a median percentage for all the flights in the U.S. But good luck, maybe you could find your answer elsewhere, or even here, if anyone would like to speculate.

BTW, who are you doing this for? Surely not an airline! They are more interested in getting as many seats in as they can, not catering to a specific group.
 
ozcobber said:
Evelyne:

The numbers of families who fly, varies with the destination. From anywhere to Orlando (Disneyworld), the numbers would be much higher than, say, between New York and Chicago.




This is so true...I will add though that most families that travel also includes Most FLA destinations. Going to Visit Grandma and Grandpa!!!

You might want to try and ask a Travel Agency this question also, I realize that most people book online now..But the Travel Agency does mostly Tour Packages which when I was a Travel Agent I would Book A LOT of Family Vacations.

In your design you might want to consider this particular section convertable...IE from "Family Section" to regular Coach Section for those flights that do not have a lot of families traveling.
 
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Thanks for your input. I know my question is vague but I just wanted an Idea of how much room I needed. I'm not creating family class for any particular airline, but yes it is for them in the future. I'm not also considering to have family class in every plane, but only on longhauls and maybe twice a week to that particular destination. So famliy class can be filled up.

thanks for the advice, if you guys still have any numbers in mind please throw em this way!

Eve
 
I say just put up some sound proof glass and put each kid inside a "beach ball" like thingy and let them go. They'll have a riot, bouncing of the walls and each other, all the passengers will be entertained watching them fly around the little glass room and no one has to hear them. :lol: :D


There are varying familys depending on destination. If the "section" was constructed to make it worthwhile to sit in if you were "family-less" on a flight, then the number of familys wouldn't be so important. BUT, from what I see, families usually have 2 or 3 kids and the seating isn't set up for them. Mom gets stuck with both kids and Dad sits across the aisle....or vice versa. On an average summer going to Florida, I'd guess there are 6 - 10 familys of 4 - 5 people.

I say make little see-through plexiglass compartments so that the kiddies won't be tempted to touch each other or put a love seat in between the kids so that Mom AND Dad can sit together and seperate the little angels. Also, in addition to barf bags....add little gags and ear plugs so depending upon your situation you can either muzzle your own kid or not have to hear the kids around you. Also, how about a little electric zapper on the bottom of each seat (like they have for dog's electric fences) so that when a bored kid kicks the seat he gets a little charge to go with it. ;) Oh yes, here's another suggestion...have the airline actually WASH the seats and floors so that the babies can touch the material without contaminating themselves. Babies like to crawl around on floors! Lets keep the babies clean.

Ninteno games and video choices at each seat.

As far as bidding for the family section....you should only allow certain f/a's in there....nice ones! Kids like nice people.

And for my number 1 suggestion......make each seat in this section one of those "car seat" chairs like they have in the minivans. Parents will be able to buckle each kid in safely and not worry about hauling around the car seats. That suggestion alone would probably book more families then anything else.

Sorry, but I got carried away (my kids are at Disney World on a field trip, I'm bored :p ) :eek:ff:
 
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Please, please continue, all your suggestions are great!!!!!

I did have in mind to eliminate the car seat/lap child issue. I totally forgot about the Hygine question(so thanks) and also the barf bags!

You guys are awsome, thanks for all the advice!

eve
 
Fly said:
Babies like to crawl around on floors! Lets keep the babies clean.

Ninteno games and video choices at each seat.

As far as bidding for the family section....you should only allow certain f/a's in there....nice ones! Kids like nice people.


I've been trying to figure out a number and if this is only for LONG HAUL.... Not too many families involved there....2-3 max...Also, keep in mind that could change quite drastically over the Different Holidays.... Easter and Christmas mainly

I would like to add...You may want an aircraft that has a Lav located near by and MAKE SURE it has a Changing table...Many aircrafts now a day have them which is nice for the parent....

And, let me add one more thing speaking of Nice Flight Attendants.... We REALLY don't want to have to dispose of the dirty diaper in the middle of Beverage or Meal Service...That is where the Lav w/ changing table is NICE !!!! ;)
 
Sorry, not a flight attendant, a gate agent, but if I may ask some questions I'll try to answer yours. How old do you want to consider for family seating? Just under 2, 5, 10, 15 years? It would make a difference as to what features you would need since the littler they are, the more "special" features they would need to keep them occupied.
There isnt an easy way to advise on how many families per flight. I worked 4 flights today and 1 flight had 1 infant (under 2) and no other kids on board. Another flight had some teenagers, but no little ones. The other two flights had one or two families with babies and smaller kids. Its going to vary greatly depending on destination, as mentioned, and time of year. Just when school is out and before starting, there are lots of kids. Also during the Spring Break the flights are full of kids as well as Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Years time.
The best thing to do would be to try to make it family friendly when needed and adult acceptable when not needed. You dont really want to stick the businessman in a seat with Barney staring at him for 3 hours. :shock: Although, there have been a couple I would have been tempted to do that to...

Maybe some special tray tables that are dry erase with special airline provided pens so the kids artwork doesnt stay on the traytables and seatbacks forever. Special seatback pockets that are easy to clean (maybe velcroed for easy changeout) so all the cracker crumbs dont end up mutating in the bottom between thorough cleanings.
 
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hi,

Thanks for the feedback. To answer some of your question. I'm actually looking at seating children from a few months old to maybe 10 (10 if you have another younger child, but if you have only a 10 year they would probably be seated in normal coach). I'm basically going to 'erase' the back portion of the plane and redesign it with the needs of family in mind. I'm thinking of creating familiy pods within this family class, where children can play, parents can relax and other passengers won't be disturbed. Redesigning the seat and how the children are sitting so the parents wont have to carry a car seat. Also maybe a more comfortable way for the litlle ones to lay down and actually sleep and not whine all night. I think if the kids are comfortable then it takes care of the parents too. That's my idea so far, havn't started designing yet so need to work on it,but all you guys advice are great. they are definately going to be on my concept sketches.

thanks agian for all the advice!
evelyne
 
With all the amenities, don't forget safety. Remember, if the cockpit turns on the Fasten Seatbelt sign, FAA regulations state that all passengers must be seated in an approved location (lav doesn't count) with their seatbelt fastened. At such times, lap children must be in the lap of the responsible adult, not crawling around on the floor or running in the aisles (I saw some pretty big lap children in my short career).

Also, clear air turbulence can be a problem at times even for adults. A friend of mine who is a working flight attendant (which by definition these days means some seniority) was injured 2 weeks ago. He was suddenly airborne and landed across an empty row of seats hitting the armrests. Fortunately, nothing was broken but he was pretty banged up.
 

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