One bright spot on the horizon for air travelers?

I moan a lot about how poorly the airlines treat their customers. And with the addition of all sorts of fees for everything from a drink of water to bringing two suitcases on your trip, the race is on to see which airline can treat its customers worst.

UK company Thompson Solutions has created a better airline seat they call the "The Cozy Suite." I already know what you're thinking. First class doesn't need another perk on their trip. But these seats – believe it or not – are made specifically for coach travelers.

The key to comfort for these seats is their staggered design. Three people are no longer crammed directly next to each other. Each passenger is slightly in front of or behind the person next to them, giving the illusion of more room. The seats even add seating capacity to some flights (depending on the configuration the airline chooses) which should make them more appealing to airline management. If airlines choose the configuration that does not add capacity, the seats then end up being two-inches wider than a normal coach seat. Yahoo!!!

A lot of design time went into these seats, with the most important part of the process... watching passengers to see how they sat and slept while on flights. Wired reports that Delta is the first airline that will be using the seats. They're scheduled to install them in 100 airplanes used for transatlantic flights, beginning in 2010. I'm all in favor of anything that will offer some level of comfort on flights!

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.