胖子飛機旅客福音：英公司設計可調整座位

Few predictions are certain when it comes to the future of air travel ... except this one. It looks like being a lot more comfortable.
關於未來的航空旅行有很多預測都不是確定的——除了這個，這個看起來似乎舒服很多。

A British company has come up with adjustable plane seats you can book to suit your shape and size.
英國一家公司設計出可調整寬度的飛機座椅來適應旅客體形。

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.
這意味着胖子旅客們不用再擔心難受地蜷縮在有限的座位空間裏，或者被迫轉移到商務艙或者支付雙倍價錢（買兩個座位），他們只需要調整座位來適應自己的體形就行。

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，家庭出行可以選擇更舒適的航班，而不用佔據更多的總空間，爸爸媽媽們可以拉大座位的寬度，而小孩子可以把座位的寬度縮小。

The Morph, as the seat has been called, also allows for the possibility of slimmer travellers paying less for occupying smaller spaces.
該座椅名叫“Morph”（變形），體形較瘦的旅客選擇這種座椅，使用空間減少的話可以少付一些錢。

The design by London firm Seymourpowell has already attracted attention from plane manufacturers such as Boeing and Airbus.
該座椅由倫敦企業Seymourpowell設計製造，目前已引起諸如波音和空客飛機制造商的注意。

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.
乘客體形的具體信息將被輸入計算機，航空公司工作人員將在飛機起飛前通過觸摸按鈕調整座位安排。

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 her piece of fabric is placed along the bottom, creating a hammock-style chair.
不像傳統飛機座椅，每個座位使用單獨的泡沫墊，這種新設計三個相連座位使用了一整塊織物。另一塊織物放在作爲底部，形成一個吊牀式座椅。

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.
這種結構包括“formers”（成形器），可以在織物下面上下移動，方便乘客根據題型和舒適度調整座椅高度和傾斜度。更關鍵的是，成形器座位三個座位之間的扶手和分隔板，可以左右移動來調整座椅寬度，使座位變大或變小。

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.
經濟艙的一般寬度在18英寸左右。但是Morph允許一個三口之家預定兩個22英寸的大座位來提升舒適度，而小孩子預定較小的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公司的傑里米·懷特承認，一些航空公司不太願意根據乘客體形對飛機票定價，但他聲稱乘客們將對這些新選擇表示歡迎。體形較大的乘客將會發現這比買兩張飛機票要好很多。

‘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.’
他說道：“有航空公司的人對我說，他們對於超重乘客收取雙倍費用，我認爲沒有什麼比要求體形較大的人們購買兩張票更侮辱人了。”

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.
懷特先生表示，這種座位還可以用來滿足其他需求，比如滿足獨身旅客的隱私，母子（母女）、辦公人士或者殘疾旅客的需要。

The seats are unlikely to be fitted into existing aircraft, so it could be more than a decade before the Morph design is introduced.
目前這種座位還不能用於現有飛機艙內，所以Morph座位的推廣至少還需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.
不過，某些航空公司已經採取類似計劃，新西蘭航空公司的夢幻客機就以“Skycouches”（空中沙發）著稱，三個相連的經濟艙座位可調整爲一張沙發。

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’.
今年早些時候，空客宣佈在其新的A320飛機上給某些靠過道座位增加兩寸的寬度，以跟上目前的“人口趨勢”。

Analysts have suggested imposing a ‘fat tax’ on passengers above a certain weight to cope with demands from larger passengers.
有分析建議對超過一定體重的乘客徵收“肥胖稅”來應對體形較大的旅客需求。

In April, Samoa Air became the first airline to operate a ‘pay-by-weight’ system.
今年4月，薩摩亞航空成爲首家開通“按體重付費”的航空公司。