How a new airline seat from Colorado lab could change your next flight, "game changer" for wheelchair users

CBS News

a day ago

New airline seats from a lab in Golden could change the way people travel by plane. The new design from Molon Labe Seating in Golden is called the Freedom Seat and aims to make flying more accessible for people with disabilities.
Meln Labe Seating CEO Hank Scott
CBS
These new chairs can slide on top of one another and lock in to allow wheelchair users the space to fly in their own chair, all without taking up any additional space for other passengers.
Right now, when wheelchair users board a plane, many have to transfer to an aisle seat and check their personal wheelchairs. This can be hard for the passenger, the employees, and can result in airlines damaging thousands of personal wheelchairs every year. In fact, the American Association of People with Disabilities has stated in the past that "an estimated 1 in 10 disabled people do not fly because of fear of damage to their equipment."
Curtis Wolff is paralyzed and has experienced many of those frustrations himself when he travels in his motorized wheelchair to get around.
"I'm pretty limited when I can do it, I really plan for a lot of extra cost, a lot of extra hassle," Wolff said.
Wolff says he travels fairly often, but not every airline or airport is all that accommodating.
"They don't have the equipment to do transfers like a lifting sling. They say they know how, but they're always in such a big hurry that they don't take care, they basically treat you like a sack of potatoes," Wolff said.
Once, Wolff said he was physically stuck at the gate after landing when his checked chair was damaged during his flight.
"They disconnected the controller wire. They had no idea how to put it back together. So there I am, waiting for someone to come in," Wolff said.
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Now, Meln Labe Seating CEO Hank Scott is hoping he can help solve that problem with the new Freedom Seat.
"What we offer is the ability to convert the double [seat] into a single, and then park a wheelchair and secure the wheelchair right next to a passenger," Scott demonstrated.
Wolff then came with CBS Colorado to Molen Labe Seating to be the very first person to try it out.
"We basically unlock it, slide it across. This is still a fully functioning seat now, Kurt can actually move back and into his spot where we can secure him," Scott said.
Wolff's wheelchair would then be secured to a plate underneath the floor to be strapped in.
Scott shared that airline seats are the most expensive real estate in the world, so he emphasized that this solution doesn't take up any more space than the seat next to it. In fact, when the Freedom Seat slides together, it also gives the seated passenger a bit more height, which means more leg room.
This new system also no longer requires Wolff to check his wheelchair.
Wolff explained that this solution would help bring some feeling of normalcy and reliability to his flying experience.
"These are my legs, and there's no instant repair of wheels or armrests or things like that. So there's a whole lot of other stuff that'd be saved, besides just the convenience of staying in my own chair," Wolff said.
Hank Scott and Curtis Wolff talk with CBS Colorado's Sarah Horbacewicz.
CBS
Scott has worked on this design for years, and most recently worked with graduate students at CU Boulder for months to review and complete the product. Scott said the seat's functionality was designed to be simple so that flight attendants would be able to help passengers board easily.
And because the seat does not take up any extra space that a first or business class seat, Scott explained that airlines can put in as many Freedom Seats as they want on a flight without necessarily restricting other passengers.
"You can do several rows. So you could have an entire, just say, a disabled basketball team. You could have the whole team on one plane. There's no limit, really," Scott said.
Molon Labe Seating is already in talks with Boeing and other airlines to get the seat in planes.
And while Wolff may have been the first to use this chair, he hopes not to be the last.
"I would like the executives to spend one day in my chair," Wolff said, "Little inconveniences are major for me, and a little convenience like this is huge. It's a game changer."
And the Freedom Seat isn't the only product Scott is pitching to airlines, as he's already made a product that gives the middle passenger the biggest seat in the row. He's hoping airlines will hop on board in the next few months.