SINGAPORE – The average economy class seat – with its more-than-75cm pitch, limited recline and barely there legroom – may not be the most ideal setting for travellers looking to get a solid snooze at 30,000 ft. 

Yet, long-haul flights are getting longer, making restful sleep in the air less of a luxury and more of a necessity.

Australian flag carrier Qantas is set to launch non-stop flights from Sydney to London in 2027, which will take over 20 hours. And on June 3, Scoot launched flights from Singapore to Austrian capital Vienna, the low-cost carrier’s longest non-stop route at roughly 13 hours.

With minimal adjustability and basic features, economy class seats embody what Mr Yogesh Tadwalkar, director of ergonomics consulting company Synergo Consulting and health tech start-up BalanceFlo AI, describes as an “all-for-all design”.

“All-for-all designs are good for no one. This is a common design issue in the field of human factors where things get so generic that they don’t work well for anybody,” he says.

Mr Zephan Chan, a director at Singapore consultancy Institute of Ergonomics and Hygiene (IEH), and Ms Phoebe Huang, IEH’s head of ergonomics, agree.

They list “prolonged awkward and sedentary posture” among the ergonomic risk factors that contribute to physical malaise during flights.

“Without proper lumbar, head or neck support, some of the consequences are lower back and shoulder discomfort. Sitting still for long hours on a plane can also restrict blood flow and cause lower limb discomfort or, in more serious cases, deep vein thrombosis,” she says.

Today, nearly 80 per cent of all seats on commercial aircraft are economy class seats, according to a December 2024 article on travel booking platform Booking.com. 

The article also said economy tickets typically cost between 30 and 50 per cent less than premium economy, and up to 80 per cent less than business class airfare.

In order to remain accessible, the design of economy seating is largely utilitarian. Seats are built to be durable and easy to clean, with comfort often taking a back seat to cost-efficiency.

Psychiatrist and sleep physician Wong Sheau Hwa, who runs a private practice, says environmental factors like noise, lighting, air quality and temperature are heightened in economy class due to the shared, confined space. This may build stress and anxiety in passengers and make it harder to fall asleep.

“The...