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The flying saddle: Would you give it a try?

• https://www.sfgate.com

Say goodbye to whatever personal space you had left.

PARIS — Airlines are squeezing as many passengers as they can onto their jets, but one seat manufacturer believes its product can help carriers push capacity to the absolute limit. And it may help push down fares.

Say goodbye to whatever personal space you had left.

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At this week's Paris Air Show, lots of curious convention-goers eagerly wanted to try out Avio Interior's "SkyRider" saddle-like airplane seat, but that's probably not the reception it would get if people found it installed on their next flight. See it in the slideshow at the top of this post.

SkyRider passengers would lean on a bicycle-seat type cushion that sits higher than your traditional airline seat. Legs sort of hang off the saddle, as they would if you were riding a horse. The seat back sits straight up, forcing good posture. A knee cut-out provides another precious few inches of legroom.

You're neither sitting nor standing — you're sort of leaning.

The SkyRider seat has been around for nearly a decade and has undergone several improvements. The next generation of the product will come with some built-in recline — but not much. The seat maker is also pondering an under seat "shelf" where kids and shorter passengers can rest their feet so they're not dangling for the duration of the flight.


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