Wingnuts Fall For Porn Stunt

Remember when RyanAir pulled everybody's leg by claiming they would begin charging for using the toilet? And then the CEO admitted that was a PR stunt? Well, they're at it again, this time with a fake in-flight porn app. And Morality In Media is the first to fall for it.

Sky Saddles

Here's a prototype of the "seating" that may be used by airlines that hope to offer "standing-room" tickets, as I've mentioned here before.

The new airplane seat, to be unveiled next week at the Aircraft Interiors Expo Americas conference in Long Beach, would give passengers an experience akin to riding horseback. They'd sit at an angle with no more than 23 inches between their perch and the seat in front of them — a design that could appeal to low-cost airlines that have floated the idea of offering passengers standing-room tickets on short flights.

Short-haul European carrier Ryanair is awaiting permission for standing-room flying and reportedly some U.S. airlines have also expressed interest in the seats.

Standing Room

Europe's Ryanair is about to begin testing on their "vertical seating" plane layout. They plan to remove ten rows of seats from the rear of their 250 planes and replace them with fifteen rows of the depicted style.

Budget airline Ryanair is planning to revolutionise air travel by introducing flights where passengers stand up rather than sit down - from £4 per ticket.The airline's flamboyant chief executive Michael O'Leary said safety testing for 'vertical seating' will take place next year when the airline will also introduce a £1 charge to use the lavatory. The budget airline wants to charge travellers for using the toilet in order to 'change passenger behaviour' and fund the cheap 'standing-room only' tickets.

Aviation safety regulators take a dim view of the idea and say they have no current plan to legalize vertical flying. Ryanair says the standing room tickets will initially only be available on flights of less than one hour. Would you be willing to fly like this if it was extra cheap?

Worse Than Coach

Discount Irish airline Ryanair made the news last week when they suggested they might start selling standing-only tickets for some of their shorter flights. A poll of the airline's customers shows that almost half of their passengers would be willing to stand if the fare were cut by 50%.

Under the proposal, passengers would lean on a stool or ledge and wear a seatbelt during take off and landing. Passengers would still have to pay taxes and charges imposed by governments or airport operators. The online poll showed 42 per cent of passengers would stand if the fare was halved compared to 58 per cent who wanted a seat. Asked if passengers should have a choice of standing on short flights as they do on trains, buses and other transport, 60 per cent said yes and 40 per cent said no. Ryanair this year abandoned plans for a "fat tax" on obese passengers, because it would slow down check-in procedures. The airline has been criticised for considering other money-making schemes including charging people to go to the toilet.

I'd probably be willing to stand on a hop to Boston or DC. But not much farther.