Planes should have flat beds
Planes should have flat beds so people can really sleep. On a long flight, sitting upright for hours is not rest, even with a good pillow.
I think the industry is stuck in a local minimum. The current arrangement works: people get from one city to another while sitting. So the changes have been small - better headrests, pillows, neck supports. Nobody has solved the real problem, which is being able to sleep flat. We want to really rest.
We reuse the same space for sitting and sleeping in other places. We have this in cars and buses. Why can’t we have this in trains? We have it in long-commute shuttles everywhere. I am surprised we do not have it in planes.
The obvious problem is takeoff and landing, when everyone has to be seated upright. That can be worked around with seats that stay seated for takeoff and landing and then transform into a flat bed for the rest of the flight. If it is technically possible, it will certainly be done.
It is surprising that aviation got stuck here for so long. We keep inventing headrest mechanisms instead of changing the seating arrangement.