Rebel Aero has been an interesting company since it won the Crystal Cabin Award for Passenger Comfort Hardware and it’s for its unique seat in 2016. How have things changed since then?
Well – at Aircraft Interiors Expo 2018 Rebel unveiled its new concept seat – Joy. Why the name Joy?
The seat features a staggered formation with the middle seat forward instead of backwards. This creates space for those of use with shoulders – and to relax in, without intruding into other people’s space.
Rebel Aerospace Joy in three different states – Farthest seat – Child/Booster Seat mode, Middle Seat staggered forward, right seating a default mode
Side on view of the Joy – development work on a booster seat that can fold with a sprung hinge in development. Note the staggered centre seat.
It features some clever thinking in regards to document storage, as well as tables and earphone stowage.
Why is seating like this important? Well – it shows out of the box thinking that other seat manufactures may be skipping over. A key feature of a seat set-up like this is that boarding times can be sped up, with people able to get into seats quickly, with wider access-ways to the seat (flip the seat up!). When ready to sit down, flip the seat down
It features Rebel Aero’s split seat too – and if you haven’t encountered it – it’s really interesting.
As opposed to the standard airline seat which is at fixed height, it offers the ability to fold the seat on-top of itself – thus creating a child’s booster seat, or a seat at an extended height for those who are tall – the net results is a one seat that fit all.
Flip-Seats in use – in the middle as a child seat, on the right as an tall adult seat.
The Rebel s:two
A 3 point safety belt is used in this model – which will allow children and adult to be restrained into the seat safely during flight
I also took at the Rebel S:two (above) – the production variant of the original seat that won the Crystal Cabin Award in 2016 – which is now formally certified for use. Rebel Aero quotes a time of 12 weeks turnaround to get a shipset ready for an aircraft – which is pretty fast if you need seats for an aircraft.
I tried both seats (in both the tall and normal configurations), and found them to be of a reasonable level of comfort that I would expect for a short-haul seat.
It’s an interesting concept in seating, that addresses the needs of children, adults and tall people in one go. According to Rebel, interest is high in both seating sets.
AIX18 saw S:two certified and on SALE! and our new concept JOY launched, with the unique opportunity to be a development partner. Interest in both is currently extremely high…. wish me luck! pic.twitter.com/iq2FJhP9yz
— Rebel.Aero (@rebelaero) April 16, 2018
It’ll be interesting to see these seats in the air… and the possibilities a seat like this offers an airline.
Economy Class and Beyond was a guest of Rebel Aerospace to tour their stand.
We’re continuing look back at Aircraft Interiors Expo with things that caught my eye – or things that deserves more than the cursory quick post from the floor of the exhibition
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Did you get to sit in one of the “Joy” seats? Is the gap in the middle of the seat as uncomfortable as it looks at first glance?
I tried it for a while on Joy. It seemed pretty comfortable to sit on (in work trousers). Couldn’t feel it too much