An aircraft seat experiences a great deal over the course of its life.

Passengers of all shapes, sizes and habits are carried from points A to B, whether on a short hop flight or an intercontinental jaunt. No matter the journey, a consistent seat performance is expected, whether it’s the reading light in a premium cabin or the tray table latch in economy. 

Trust and verify 

Standard to its development and manufacturing process, a seat goes through a battery of dynamic tests to confirm that it not only functions as designed, but also performs for the length of its planned life.  

A typical business class seat contains a complex system of actuators that position the passenger in seat mode, bed mode and points in between. With endurance testing, performance of the actuation system is confirmed by moving the seat back and forth from lie-flat to upright mode enough times to mirror the full lifespan of that seat. A test dummy comes along for the ride for the duration of testing, mimicking passenger weight during operation. 

Testing moves beyond the standard operation of seating components to account for the typical wear and tear a seat may experience at the hands (and elbows and hips) of passengers. 

Take an arm rest, for instance. In addition to testing its hinging function as it’s raised and lowered, additional testing repeatedly applies side forces to it. This mimics how passengers might interact with the arm rest during flight, whether it’s leaning on it with their elbow or pressing their hip against it. 

An arm rest is endurance tested for its hinging function as well as the side forces it experiences from passenger behavior.

A decade of use, simulated 

Confirming performance for an entire lifespan of use requires considerable effort to complete in a timely manner. With testing, ten years of operation is condensed to a vastly shorter span of time. Economy seats generally take a couple weeks while more complex business class seats require more involved testing, taking up to a month to complete. To achieve this, tens of thousands of test cycles are conducted, running 24 hours a day until completed.  

Activities are automated with some supported by robotics, which are especially advantageous for testing components that operate on more than one plane of movement. For example, a robotic arm tests the operation of an in-flight entertainment screen by telescoping from the arm rest, taking the hardware through the full cycle of deployment and stowage. 

A robotic arm tests the full function of a telescoping in-flight entertainment screen from deployment to stowage.

Endurance testing is one aspect of a larger program of activities conducted, with additional testing done for certification purposes. Certification programs include 16G crash simulation and flammability testing of seat materials. 

 The importance of endurance testing cannot be understated, as it confirms the quality of the product and also gives airline customers confidence that their seats will withstand the rigors of passenger use for the long haul.