Airbus has filed a patent application showing detailed renderings of what may be the plane seat of the future.

The design shows narrow rows of folding saddle seats with low backrests on which passengers perch rather than recline.

The patent application makes even the most budget of budget airline seating look luxurious.

[A] new study says the vertical passenger seat may be the next big cost-cutting move in aviation. Upright seat designs would allow airlines to pack more passengers into a cabin.

The Airbus design is somewhat similar to the SkyRider, a perching saddle for planes developed by Italian firm Aviointeriors and unveiled at an expo in 2010 [and pictured at top].

Possibly it is just me, but I feel a sudden urge to wish horrible things on the dubious geniuses who somehow thought this was a good idea.

Oh, sure, it’d be cheaper, just at the cost of at last removing any distinction between commercial airflight and factory farming. Save perhaps the eating part.

Though, maybe this is just step one for that, so perhaps I should stand by my original statement.

Via CNN Travel.