A New Plane Seat Could Make the Middle Spot the Roomiest

The middle seat on an airplane is one of the most miserable positions to be in on a commercial flight. You’re pinned in on either side, fighting for elbow room, and have neither the pleasure of resting against the window, or the ease of going to the bathroom without bugging the entire row. But a design called the Side-Slip Seat could make the middle seat the widest in the row, according to Co.Design.

Created by Molon Labe Designs, the row of seats slides together and apart on a track. The configuration allows a set of three seats to slide together to the width of just two. This means you can have a bigger aisle during boarding, which can help passengers move in and out easily (preventing one overhead bag kerfuffle from slowing the whole process down), and provide wheelchair access.

When it comes time for passengers to take their seats, the row expands to make the middle seat accessible. The design is off-set, so the backrest of the middle seat sits slightly behind the other two. Everyone gets their own dedicated armrests, and the middle seat is actually the widest, by about two inches.

The seat has already been through thorough safety testing and will go to the FAA for crash testing in the next few months. From there, it could be sold to airlines, meaning that you could be seeing something like this on your own plane in the near future.