When you design aircraft seat foam, you want it to be comfortable. If it’s not, you’re going to have a problem! Comfort is something to always keep in mind when you design aircraft seat foam for cushions. At Dretloh, we try our best to craft the comfiest seats we can, while still designing according to our client’s requirements.

Here are our top tips on how to design aircraft seat foam for comfort.

3 Ways to Design Aircraft Seat Foam for Comfort

1. Choosing the Right Foam

We usually handle this ourselves and select based on the original cushions densities. There is one common density we use, generally speaking, that fits most applications and is comfortable and gives the operator long service life. There are times we may soften it up with a layer of lighter density foam on top – but it’s not that often.

That’s one way to add some softness. We will also use a softer layer down the center of the backs at times, too, if we feel, based on the shapes/thickness of the cushions, that it’s best to do that in order to make it most comfortable. It really comes down to just playing with the densities of the foams in order to achieve the best comfort.

A lot of seats need a hard, dense foam in specific areas (for example up top in the back section of the back cushion) so that the corners of the foam do not start getting floppy due to people resting their hands/body on the corners of the seats. Also known as the floppy ears syndrome!

2. Cutting And Carving The Foam

There are ways to design aircraft seat foam for comfort by carving the foam a certain way. For example, the way you cut and carve the foam can determine whether there might be a bit of pinching on the seat or discomfort in any way.

3. Perfecting The Seat Contours

With the backs of seats, we can add lumbar support to make the cushions more comfortable by shaping them properly. Some seats may come in with a basic, flat shape and we will add some taper in the lumbar area. Or give it more form to sort of wrap the bod a littel bit. Makes it feel nicer!