Quote of the Day: "The new [seat] design is completely insane"

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I'm flying Toronto - Singapore via Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific next week. Economy. I heard Cathay Pacific has some new economy seats that slide rather than recline.  Went to AirlineEquality.Com to check things out.

Doesn't look good.  Sample reviews :

Being 6'6" makes any seat difficult but to Cathay's credit, they gave me an exit row. Without this act of kindness, I would have been crippled because the new shell design (non-reclining) is completely insane. Have the cushions slide forward and describing this as the same as reclining is absurd. Your knees end up in your face - try it at home! One can only hope that these things get scrapped and a legitimate engineer designs the new ones. Cathay Pacific dropped the ball on this one and I cannot understand how it hasn't affected their rating.

* * * 

New economy seat. Absolute torture. I'm 6'4" Doesn't recline, only slouches, so you slump down and your neck is bent at a torturous angle. No support, no legroom, luckily I was in an aisle seat and could stick one leg out in the aisle. Very disappointing as the Cathay inflight service is very good. Never again.  

Maybe this explains why Cathay Pacific had the best  prices -- people want to avoid anything resembling Tortureair.

On the positive side, a 5' 1" reviewer reported she had plenty of leg room...

I'm taking a travel pillow and booking aisle so I can get up and stretch (for sleeping segments, I prefer window). Any other advice on long-haul survival strategies would be appreciated.

Then, back in about eight days and I'll let you know how I make out.