The airline that might actually make you WANT to pick the middle seat on the plane - by making them wider than the others

• e-mail

It is everyone's least favourite seat on the aircraft, but that could soon be all about to change.

One airline is setting out to tackle the stigma attached to middle seats on planes, installing a design where they are larger than the preferred window or aisle seats.

Not only that but Frontier Airlines claim their new 19-inch-wide middle seats are the widest on any US airline. 

Frontier Airlines claim their new 19-inch-wide middle seats will be widest than any other US airline

Passengers who opt for the new middle seats will be able to enjoy an extra inch of seat width, compared to the people sat next to them.

CCO Daniel Shurz told CN Traveler: 'This will make sitting in the middle seat a little less uncomfortable.' 

Despite the Denver-based airline having a reputation for added fees for drinks and carry-on bags, there are no plans to charge extra for the additional space.

There are drawbacks to the designs, however. The chairs are less padded, and guests will have 28 inches of legroom, two inches less than they do at the moment.

However the low-cost carrier has come up with a solution to tackle any dispute over chairs reclining. 

The seats will come in a pre-reclined position, which Frontier president Barry Biffle described as a 'built-in knee guard.'

Passengers who opt for the new middle seats will be able to enjoy an extra inch of seat width, compared to the people sat next to them

The limited legroom is a result of the airline adding 12 seats to the Airbus A320s and A319s, bringing the total number of seats in an A320 up to 180.

In comparison, United Airlines have 30 seats fewer in the same A320 carrier. 

Frontier Airlines plan to increase this number even further to 186 by rearranging the cabin to put a bathroom in the space the galley currently occupies. 

The news comes after patents for a new economy configuration were published by Zodiac Seats.

Plans for an 'Economy Class Cabin Hexagon' show alternately forward and backward facing seats, where passengers are forced to sit staring at people sat opposite. 

The news was met by a largely horrified reaction. 

Twitter user Linda MS Enos said: 'This makes me not want to ever take a plane!'

A patent has just been filed by Zodiac Seats for a new 'Economy Class Cabin Hexagon' which consists of alternating forward and backward facing seats

The patent designs for the slotted seating were published last month, following an application in December of last year

TVs would be positioned on the backs of the seat in front, but there would also be two passengers facing you

Meanwhile Celinne Da Costa tweeted: 'Not sure how I feel about opposite-facing lounge seats in a plane-  Not a fan of strangers watching me drool.'

Earlier this year Airbus announced that it is to introduce an extra seat to each row of its Airbus A380 model, squeezing yet more passengers onto each vessel.

From 2017, the aircraft manufacturer is planning to incorporate 11 seats into the same space as the current 10 are placed, and a fourth class is set to be introduced in response to the addition.

The new centre seat will change the current configuration from 3-4-3 to become a 3-5-3 set up.

Currently the company uses First, Business and Economy class, but there will soon be the addition of 'budget economy', branded as Choice Economy.