Don't panic yet. These airplane seats are just an idea. (For now)

I don't want to spread false rumors as this writer did in The New York Times twelve years ago. No airline has agreed to buy these things, although companies that design airplane seating are still trying to sell them. By "these things" I'm referring to ultra-compact seats that require passengers to perch their posteriors on a tiny seat rather than just sit with their thighs supported.

Avio Interiors Group calls these abominations the "Skyrider 2.0" (presumably an improvement over Skyrider 1.0) and revealed them last month at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, Germany.

From the company's website:

The Skyrider 2.0 is an innovative seat, it allows an ultra-high density in the aircraft cabin. Skyrider 2.0 opens the traveling experience to a wider passenger market, creating also a useful space for the introduction mixed classes boarded on the same aircraft.

Its main feature is the original bottom that ensures an increased upright passenger position allowing installation of the seat at a reduced pitch, while maintaining an adequate comfort [yeah right].

The design of this seat enables to increase the passenger number by 20% allowing increasing profits for airline companies. Furthermore, Skyrider 2.0 weighs 50% less than standard economy class seats and the reduced number of components enable minimum maintenance costs.

In conclusion, Skyrider 2.0 is the new frontier of low cost tickets and offering a possibility to fly to whom today cannot afford it."

The other issue besides passenger comfort is safety. Airlines must certify that their planes can be evacuated within 90 seconds, even with half the emergency exits blocked. These tests never duplicate real life conditions (disabled or elderly passengers, wheelchair users, clueless passengers carrying their bags off the plane), so will cramming in more passengers present a problem? They're not adding more emergency exits, just more people. True, they'll be already standing up so that might save some time.

Perhaps Avio should promote these new seats as a safety feature.