Health hazard of Qantas Business Class seats on A330-300

[Ferguson]

I recently traveled Melbourne - Hong Kong return on a Qantas A330-300. The Business Class seats on this aircraft are a very bad design and impose a high risk of deep vein thrombosis. The seats do not feature a footrest to enable the legs to be extended horizontally when the seat is reclined for comfort. Instead, there is a small extension to the main seat which can be raised to the horizontal and on which only the upper part of the lower leg rests, with the rest of the leg dangling in space. This extension then supports only the upper part of the calf which now takes the full weight of the legs. This results in compression of the top of the calf, thereby obstructing venous return and strongly predisposing to deep vein thrombosis. If a seat were deliberately designed to cause this complication, especially on long haul flights, this would be the way to do it.

 

[defurax]

Not sure I understand, but the seat can be moved forward until your feet can reach the elevated part of the foot well. This can be achieved without the seat being in a reclined position.

 

[sudoer]

Adjust the seat forward so your feet can reach the footrest/cubby? This design isn't especially unique to Qantas..

 

[mannej]

If there were a raft of people who have attained DVT's after using the Business suite (keeping in mind this is the product on the PER-LHR-PER route), you would be hearing about it in the media...

 

[kermatu]

While I am a fan of this suite, I have also noticed this problem and agree the only work-around is to move the seat forward but at the expense of privacy and space to the table. A movable ottoman (as some airlines have in F) would help, but unlikely for a QF J product.

 

[RichardMEL]

The fact that one has space to move in the seat area (and thus do the in seat exercises) plus all aisle access so that one can get up and mpove about the cabin ... I am not sure how one can claim it is a health hazard any more than any other J (or F) product imho. The pax bears some responsibility for their own wellbeing imho.

For me.. no matter what airline or product I am in I get up regularly and stretch (usually at 2R, or 1R if in F on a QF 380) at least trying to be out of the way of crew and pax as much as possible.

The real danger is sleeping or lying flat for such long periods without the movement as much as sitting up, and no footrest is going to help with that imho.

While narrow I think the QF J suite is pretty good in respect of space to do anti-DVT exercises and, as above, aisle access to get up and move.

imho

 

[Dannyism]

If a seat were deliberately designed to cause this complication, especially on long haul flights, this would be the way to do it.

May I please ask if you are an expert in this area? Ergonomic or health professional?

You are more than welcome to your opinion, but I am attempting to guage your knowledge in the area.