The Friendlier Skies

For disabled passengers flying is a logistical nightmare involving a whole host of indignities. Sondra Frances Law, a 22-year-old recent graduate of Parsons School of Design’s integrated-design program, had never thought about it until she was talking with a group of flight attendants living in her neighborhood. “I was thinking of my senior thesis, and one of them said to me, ‘This is something you might be interested in,’” Law says. “‘We have this terrible piece of equipment—the in-flight wheelchair—that we almost never use. If you’re on an airplane in a wheelchair, you can’t use the bathroom at all unless you have someone traveling with you.’”

Law called almost all of the major U.S. airlines and—nearly 15 years after passage of the ADA—was stunned by the sorry state of universal design in commercial aviation. She contacted the New York nonprofit Society for Accessible Travel & Hospitality (SATH), which became an early collaborator on her project to produce accessible airplane seats, connecting her with disabled travelers, referring her to current research in the field, and helping to focus her efforts. The resulting seat combines the functions of several devices in one unit. Currently an industrial designer at Boum Design in New York, Law is still working to convince airlines that the chair is both viable and utterly necessary.

The Problem:
Disabled airline passengers are often forced to change seats several times. The exact number and location of transfers varies from terminal to terminal, but travelers can be moved as many as five times—and rarely fewer than three. A common scenario involves a passenger (1) arriving at curbside in their own wheelchair; (2) being placed in an airport wheelchair at check-in; (3) being transferred to a boarding chair, (4) then brought inside the aircraft and placed in a standard airplane seat; and (5) if they need to go to the bathroom during the flight, their traveling companion moves them to an in-flight chair that can navigate the aisle.

The Solution:
The accessible seat combines the structural and ergonomic aspects of four chairs—the basic wheelchair, a boarding chair, an in-flight chair, and the regular airplane seat—into a single mechanism that eliminates at least two transfers. (The ultimate goal of only one transfer at curbside might prove impossible, because of security and other considerations.) The chair’s braking system is controlled by a pair of handles in the back; when they are flush with the seat, the brake is engaged. “If the flight attendant wants to unlock the chair from the seated position,” the designer says, “they stand behind it, pull the handles up, and slide the chair out.” The caster-type wheels use a ball-bearing mechanism that allows the seat to pivot 360 degrees and lock into the airplane’s standard track system.

Flexible Positioning:
After researching the floor plans of current and future aircraft interiors, Law determined that the best location for the accessible economy and business-class seats was on the aisle near lavatories. In the first-class section—already wheelchair accessible as a rule—she would place the seats in the back row, where flight attendants can more easily step behind the chair and engage it from the locked position. “If you don’t have a disabled person on board,” Law says, “you can use these seats for taller or pregnant passengers.”

Refining Details:
Law’s sketches served as a link between her research and early explorations of form. She used a European train seat as a model from which to study the aesthetics and ergonomics of the chair’s headrest and handles. The designer drew an existing seat to resolve the relationship between the handles and the tray table for passengers seated behind.