Do you have a comfortable seat？

When you invest tens of millions to purchase a luxury business jet， it will be expected that everything onboard to be top class and perfect. Your seat is of course no exception， but this simple logic does not work here. Usually the seat on your business jet is not even as comfort as the seat on your BMW sport car which only cost several hundred thousand dollars.

What are the reasons？ The top reason is that it is way much difficult to design a comfortable aircraft seat than the seat of any other vehicle due to strict safety requirements on materials and design， as well as the need to control weight， to fit in a limited space， to meet long haul flight needs， and to suit the shape of various customers. The truth is， there is yet no perfect seat for commercial airliners and business jets.

Then what kind of seat will make us comfortable？

Rule No.1： Enough legroom

Legroom is identified in nearly every research as the most important factor that contributes to in-flight comfort. The answer of many respondents in surveys goes like this： The seat is not wide enough. There is not enough legroom. Therefore， it is very uncomfortable.

This answer is also true for business jets， particularly for small one. When configured with maximum seating， a small business jet does not offer too much legroom， especially when you have to seat face to face with another passenger where you have to “entangle” your legs time and again. You may either release the table to ease the embarrassment or choose a forward-facing seat configuration.

When you are purchasing a small or medium-sized business jet， or to chart a business jet， it is recommended to look at the seat configuration and check if there is enough legroom between the seats.

It is also shown that passengers seating next to you will increase your stress. So if you own a business jet and if space allows， minimizing parallel seating could improve your comfort level.

Rule No.2： Feet off the ground

Furniture producers have an interesting finding when designing rest chairs： people tend to seat with their feet off the ground when they are reading or watching TV. Of 100 chair tester， 45 has one leg off the ground， either over the other leg or on the armrest， and 51 have both feet off the ground， either on the side table or cross legged. Regardless of how they place their legs， it is clear that it will be more relaxed and comfortable if passengers can sit with feet off the ground.

However， this answer has been overlooked in aircraft seat design. Image how numb your legs would be if they are placed helplessly by the steep slope below the seat for 3 or 4 hours. When a purchaser is selecting business jet or charter jet， it will be necessary for the passenger to test wether he/she can sit comfortable with feet off the ground.

Rule No.3： Take care of shear force

If you have not heard of it before， shear force is the force that pulls you downward while you lean back on your seat. It is a very uncomfortable sliding force， especially when you want to have a nice sleep. According to a research， the bigger the sheer force， the less comfortable it will be， especially if you are on a long haul flight.

Apart from causing discomfort， shear force will also lead to circled wrinkle on your thighs， or even pressure ulcer. That is why frequent economy class fliers do not have smooth thigh skin. And this could be a big issue for ladies.

In order to reduce shear force， business jet seats are designed with longer cushion. But the best way is always to try it yourself.

Rule No.4： Balance Hip Breadth and Sitting Position

According to the anthropometric data provided on www.dined.nl （2000）， the hip breadth of 31-60 year old East Asian is on average less than 350cm， Central Europeans less than 400cm， and Nordic and North Americans less than 440cm.

Aircraft seats are designed to accommodate different sitting positions. Be it sideways， lying back， writing or reading， passengers should be able to seat freely. In the limited space， changing sitting position is the best way to ease the stress and fatigue of travel.

If the seat is too wide， passengers could not rest their arms， but if too narrow， overweight passengers could not adjust sitting position freely. One question that you may want to ask is whether major business jet manufacturers， mostly European and American， offer seats that suit the needs of Asian passengers？ A simple test is to check if your elbows could comfortably reach the armrest， if not， the seat is not designed specifically for Chinese customers.