Are Stacking Seats The Answer To Aircraft Cabin Overcrowding?

One of the most memorable scenes in the otherwise forgettable 2017 Matt Damon movie "Downsizing" depicted a couple who had decided to downsize their lives, but the story isn't about corporate layoffs or empty-nesters. It's about voluntarily getting mini-sized — as in shrunk to a doll-sized miniature version of yourself — to reduce your cost of living while saving the planet. It's complicated. The scene shows pre- and post-downsized people riding side-by-side on a bus but makes the outlandish scenario seem strangely plausible. The same holds true for futuristic models of potential seating solutions — including stacked layouts — in an economy-class airline cabin. At first glance, it's kind of off-putting in an oh-hell-no kind of way, but upon closer examination, the concept begins to seem worthy of further exploration.

The potentially game-changing concept has unexpected roots. In 2021, Alejandro Núñez Vicente was a 21-year-old university student. He came up with the idea of stacking seats while he was traveling in cramped economy-class aircraft cabins between his home in Madrid, Spain (a must-visit European food destination) to university in the Dutch city of Delft (one of Rick Steve's top destinations when traveling to The Netherlands). At 6 feet, 2 inches tall, he spent plenty of time in flight imagining seating layouts that would give him just enough space to stretch his legs. With the support of his university professors, Núñez Vicente began to develop the idea and eventually built a prototype that earned a nomination for the 2021 Crystal Cabin Awards Judges' Choice Award. But that's just the beginning of the story. Fast forward to 2025 and Núñez Vicente is in preliminary discussions with Airbus, the world's largest aircraft manufacturer.

While details are still unclear, Airbus confirmed to CNN in early 2025 that the company was, indeed, in the very early stages of conversing with Núñez Vicente about a potential collaboration. Airbus, however, declined to provide additional details. At this point, it's anyone's guess whether the discussion will continue beyond the preliminary stage and what resemblance any collaborative design will have to Núñez Vicente's original prototype — a design built on the premise of removing the ubiquitous overhead bin stowage space and replacing it with a second-tier level of elevated seats. Not to worry. Núñez Vicente's design doesn't eliminate space for carry-on luggage and personal items, he just relocated it to a cubby between the upper and lower levels.

Núñez Vicente's original 2021 double-decker prototype called for staggered upper and lower levels, with one seat at floor level and the next seat in the elevated position accessed by climbing a ladder. There were pros and cons for each placement. In 2021, Núñez Vicente told CNN, "The lower row has the advantage of passengers having the lounge experience of a couch by stretching the legs, whilst the upper row ... [makes] it possible, for instance, to cross the legs due to the increased leg room and overall living space." The configuration also allowed for a variety of recline angles and included adjustable neck and back support. A CNN reporter who tested both levels of the first prototype found sitting in the lower level and facing the wall-like back of the adjacent elevated seat to be a bit disconcerting, but acknowledged some passengers might not find it off-putting.

While he continues to exhibit his two-level economy-class cabin design in pursuit of a collaboration opportunity, Núñez Vicente is expanding his vision to include double-decker seating solutions for business- and first-class aircraft cabins. He introduced his next-stage design — dubbed "Elevated Class" — at the 2024 Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, Germany (one of the 20 best cities in the world to spend a weekend). Although the basic concept remains consistent, Núñez Vicente's vision for premium class-cabin seating consists of single seats on the lower level with two seats creating a couch-like experience for the upper level. The design features the bells and whistles already associated with premium class travel, including seats that convert to lie-flat beds.

While the news about Núñez Vicente's potential collaboration with Airbus has pushed his designs into the spotlight, he's not the only visionary reimagining aircraft cabins. In 2021 when his design earned a Crystal Cabin Awards Judges' Choice Award nomination, Cloud Capsule, a two-tier configuration imagined by Toyota Boshoku, also garnered a nod from the judging panel. Located above standard economy-class seats, the Cloud Capsule could be offered as an add-on for passengers seeking a bit more space and privacy.

While the ideas are intriguing, any implementation of double-decker seating is still a long way from actually happening. In the meantime, it's fun to imagine what aircraft cabins of the future will look like. As Crystal Cabin Awards representative Lukas Kaestner told CNN, "We shouldn't underestimate the trend- and agenda-setting ability of such concepts for aviation as an industry."