As flying gets less and less glamorous (and more and more stressful), we’ve learned to stop being surprised at how bad flight conditions have become. But it turns out that we hadn’t hit rock bottom yet — that is, until this news: Budget airline VivaColombia is considering removing all seats from its planes, forcing passengers to stand.
Sure, you may have to stand on the subway or bus from time to time, which isn’t exactly the safest situation, but at least it’s usually fleeting and only happens when the vehicle’s packed and all the seats are taken. But standing on purpose for the length of an entire flight without even the option to sit? Who the hell would be on board with that?
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“There are people out there right now researching whether you can fly standing up — we’re very interested in anything that makes travel less expensive,” VivaColombia’s founder and CEO William Shaw told the Miami Herald. Oh, but he’s not done. “Who cares if you don’t have an in-flight entertainment system for a one-hour flight? Who cares that there aren’t marble floors… or that you don’t get free peanuts?”
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Er — did he really just compare not having HBO on demand with not having a place to sit?! But hey, if you’re no longer getting an actual seat on a flight, you shouldn’t be shocked by a lack of entertainment or snacks, guys. Don’t be unreasonable here.
Unbelievably, this isn’t the first time an airline has considered the seatless route. Ryanair proposed a “standing area” back in 2010, saying that if anything went wrong, it’s not like a seatbelt would actually help you. Comforting!
So much for the golden age of travel.
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