Low-cost airline considers replacing seats with standing space

"There are people out there right now researching whether you can fly standing up," VivaColombia airline founder and CEO William Shaw told the Miami Herald. "We're very interested in anything that makes travel less expensive."

Shaw and airline officials believe the move could fit more passengers onto planes and drive down airfare for customers, making flights more affordable for budget travelers.

“Who cares if you don’t have an inflight entertainment system for a one-hour flight?” Shaw asked in reference to seat-less planes. “Who cares that there aren’t marble floors ... or that you don’t get free peanuts?”

VivaColombia announced the purchase of 50 new planes last week, the Miami Herald reported. Those planes have more seats than most of the planes owned by the airline, a move to fit more passengers per plane and cater to the increasing tourism industry in Colombia.

According to The Independent, VivaColombia isn't the first airline to propose seat-less flights. Ryanair proposed standing areas on planes in 2010.

“(A plane is) just a ... bus with wings,” Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said at the time. “If there ever was a crash on an aircraft, God forbid, a seat belt won’t save you. You don't need a seat belt on the London Underground. You don't need a seat belt on trains which are traveling at 120 mph.”

Read more at The Independent and the Miami Herald.