Late Seats

[Bucky]

[Jack]

more. . .

I am not sure if there is just one supplier in the world but this has been a problem for several years now at all airlines. So that's nothing new. I venture to say that SIA doesn't want the A380 at this time and is just finding a scapegoat.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

This is clearly a case of Koito interruptus....

[Cyka UchuuJin]

This is clearly a case of Koito interruptus....

We flew Singapore's A380 to Hong Kong. While the seats were definitely the widest, the design was not fantastic, and there isn't any mechanical function to go from seated to flat. To convert to flatbed, you have to get up and pull a latch behind the seat that makes it fold out. once it's flat, you don't have any way to raise the head.

The Emirates design is much better seat wise (even though the cabin is kind of ugly)

[SpikeX]

keep an eye out for some Koito employee in runner's stance on a Yamanote station platform...

[Blah Pete]

[Mulboyne]

Oops:

WSJ: Japan Airplane Seat Maker Falsified Data

Japanese manufacturer Koito Industries Ltd. said it falsified safety testing data for some 150,000 airplane seats installed on about 1,000 Boeing Co. and Airbus planes operated by 32 airline carriers around the world. Airlines, regulators and plane manufacturers said the seats don't pose a safety risk. But the move marks the latest black eye for Japan's manufacturing industry following on the heels of Toyota Motor Corp.'s widespread problems involving its accelerators and braking systems. Toyota owns a 20% stake in Koito's parent company, though the two incidents aren't related.

In order to meet surging demand for seats to outfit new planes, Koito said, it used a computer program that produced false readings on safety tests to meet standards for seat strength. The company said it would begin testing all the seats covered by the falsified testing data and fix any that are found to fall short of requirements. Koito also admitted to skipping some safety tests entirely and used figures from previous exams. The company's actions came to light when a whistleblower stepped forward last year. "I am deeply sorry," Koito President Takashi Kakegawa said at a news conference on Monday, noting that the deception involved the entire department overseeing the testing and has dated back to the mid 1990s.

Shares of Koito fell by its daily limit of 80 yen, or 33.5%, to 159 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Tuesday. The Yokohama-based company, which also makes seats for trains and traffic signals for city roads, said it has not received any safety complaints regarding the seats in question.

Japan's transport ministry said there is no need to ground the planes using the Koito seats. An official in Tokyo for Airbus, a unit of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., said there is little impact from the Koito news and that safety is not a concern. A Boeing official wasn't immediately available for comment. Koito declined to identify the 32 airlines that it has supplied, but its Web site labels Continental Airlines Inc., Air Canada and Virgin Atlantic Airways as past customers. An All Nippon Airways Co. spokeswoman said there are Koito seats on 57% of its airplanes and it will check seat safety as part of its standard aircraft examination, but will not do any extraordinary testing of the seats.

On Monday, Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism issued a business improvement order to the company, an official punishment that subjects the company to extra oversight from the government.

[Adhesive]

Oops:

WSJ: Japan Airplane Seat Maker Falsified Data

Japan's transport ministry said there is no need to ground the planes using the Koito seats. An official in Tokyo for Airbus, a unit of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., said there is little impact from the Koito news and that safety is not a concern.

Then why are those standards even in place?

[Cyka UchuuJin]

Then why are those standards even in place?

because it gives little men in salaryman uniforms something to do that justifies receiving a pay packet. it doesn't mean it's a job that's needed, it just makes the employment quotas look good.

[Yokohammer]

Here we go again. This scenario is repeated so often that I can't help wondering if humanity (well, maybe just the local humanity) has totally lost all sense of moral responsibility as well as the ability to learn from history.

In short: "We were really busy so we didn't bother with the required safety/security measures, because as everyone knows short-term profit is much more important than the safety/welfare of the public."

Pick an industry: transport, finance, domestic goods, food, medical, politics ... anything. I'm pretty sure there's at least one incident of this type *that has come to light* in every one of them over the past few years.

Don't-give-a-shit executives, professionals and pols take note: it could be you in that seat when the plane crash lands, or behind the wheel when the brakes fail, or in the dentist's chair when the dentist installs an implant that was previously in someone else's mouth, etc., etc., ...

[FG Lurker]

I am not sure if there is just one supplier in the world but this has been a problem for several years now at all airlines. So that's nothing new. I venture to say that SIA doesn't want the A380 at this time and is just finding a scapegoat.

I'd venture to say that as usual you are full of shit and have no idea what you're talking about.

[Cyka UchuuJin]

I'd venture to say that as usual you are full of shit and have no idea what you're talking about.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to FG Lurker again.

you, as usual, are full of win.