New Airbus Patent Would Stack Passengers on Top of Each Other

Every so often, we get a new chapter in the ongoing saga of the incredible shrinking plane seat. Usually, it involves an airline trimming another fraction of an inch off the width of your seat cushion, or ever-so-slightly decreasing what’s left of your legroom. But a patent filed by aviation manufacturer Airbus this month boldly goes where no seat shrinker has gone before: the space above your head.

“In modern means of transport, in particular in aircraft, it is very important from an economi...