胖子飞机旅客福音：英公司设计可调整座位

Few predictions are certain when it comes to the future of air travel ... except this one. It looks like being a lot more comfortable.

关于未来的航空旅行有很多预测都不是确定的——除了这个，这个看起来似乎舒服很多。

A British company has come up with adjustable plane seats you can book to suit your shape and size.

英国一家公司设计出可调整宽度的飞机座椅来适应旅客体形。

It means larger passengers need not worry about squeezing into uncomfortable, tight spaces, moving to business class or paying double – they just book an expanded seat to fit them.

这意味着胖子旅客们不用再担心难受地蜷缩在有限的座位空间里，或者被迫转移到商务舱或者支付双倍价钱（买两个座位），他们只需要调整座位来适应自己的体形就行。

And families can enjoy more comfortable flights without taking up more overall space – mothers and fathers can add a few notches to their seats while smaller children can have theirs scaled down.

而且，家庭出行可以选择更舒适的航班，而不用占据更多的总空间，爸爸妈妈们可以拉大座位的宽度，而小孩子可以把座位的宽度缩小。

The Morph, as the seat has been called, also allows for the possibility of slimmer travellers paying less for occupying smaller spaces.

该座椅名叫“Morph”（变形），体形较瘦的旅客选择这种座椅，使用空间减少的话可以少付一些钱。

The design by London firm Seymourpowell has already attracted attention from plane manufacturers such as Boeing and Airbus.

该座椅由伦敦企业Seymourpowell设计制造，目前已引起诸如波音和空客飞机制造商的注意。

Details of passengers' sizes and needs will be fed into a computer and airline staff then adjust the varied seating arrangements at a touch of a button before take-off.

乘客体形的具体信息将被输入计算机，航空公司工作人员将在飞机起飞前通过触摸按钮调整座位安排。

Unlike traditional seats, which are created individually using foam padding, the new design is based around a single piece of fabric stretched across the back of a frame for three seats.Another piece of fabric is placed along the bottom, creating a hammock-style chair.

不像传统飞机座椅，每个座位使用单独的泡沫垫，这种新设计三个相连座位使用了一整块织物。另一块织物放在作为底部，形成一个吊床式座椅。

The frame includes ‘formers’ which move up or down underneath the fabric, allowing the passenger to alter the recline, as well as the height and depth of the seat pan, according to their size and comfort. Crucially, the formers, which act as arm rests and dividers between the three seats, can also be moved left or right to alter their width, making the seats bigger or smaller.

这种结构包括“formers”（成形器），可以在织物下面上下移动，方便乘客根据题型和舒适度调整座椅高度和倾斜度。更关键的是，成形器座位三个座位之间的扶手和分隔板，可以左右移动来调整座椅宽度，使座位变大或变小。

Economy class airline seats are, on average, around 18in wide. But the Morph seats would allow, for example, a couple travelling with a young child to book two larger 22in seats to improve their comfort, while the child would occupy a smaller and cheaper 10in seat.

经济舱的一般宽度在18英寸左右。但是Morph允许一个三口之家预定两个22英寸的大座位来提升舒适度，而小孩子预定较小的10英寸便宜座位。

Jeremy White, of Seymourpowell, admitted that some airlines were resistant to charging people according to their size, but claimed passengers would welcome improved choice. Larger travellers could see it as a better option than being charged twice over.

Seymourpowell公司的杰里米·怀特承认，一些航空公司不太愿意根据乘客体形对飞机票定价，但他声称乘客们将对这些新选择表示欢迎。体形较大的乘客将会发现这比买两张飞机票要好很多。

‘One airline told us that if they have an oversized passenger, they make them buy two seats,’ he said. ‘I can’t think of anything more degrading or humiliating than forcing someone to buy two seats because they are a bit wide.’

他说道：“有航空公司的人对我说，他们对于超重乘客收取双倍费用，我认为没有什么比要求体形较大的人们购买两张票更侮辱人了。”

Mr White said the seats can also be adjusted to suit other needs such as privacy for lone travellers, mothers with children, people working or less abled passengers.

怀特先生表示，这种座位还可以用来满足其他需求，比如满足独身旅客的隐私，母子（母女）、办公人士或者残疾旅客的需要。

The seats are unlikely to be fitted into existing aircraft, so it could be more than a decade before the Morph design is introduced.

目前这种座位还不能用于现有飞机舱内，所以Morph座位的推广至少还需10年以上。

However, some airlines have already adopted similar seating plans. Air New Zealand’s Dreamliners feature ‘Skycouches’, a row of three economy seats that can be turned into a sofa.

不过，某些航空公司已经采取类似计划，新西兰航空公司的梦幻客机就以“Skycouches”（空中沙发）著称，三个相连的经济舱座位可调整为一张沙发。

And earlier this year Airbus announced it would be offering an additional two inches on some aisle seats on its new A320 jets to keep up with ‘demographic trends’.

今年早些时候，空客宣布在其新的A320飞机上给某些靠过道座位增加两寸的宽度，以跟上目前的“人口趋势”。

Analysts have suggested imposing a ‘fat tax’ on passengers above a certain weight to cope with demands from larger passengers.

有分析建议对超过一定体重的乘客征收“肥胖税”来应对体形较大的旅客需求。

In April, Samoa Air became the first airline to operate a ‘pay-by-weight’ system.

今年4月，萨摩亚航空成为首家开通“按体重付费”的航空公司。