The research department at Airbus SA just seems like the funnest place to work these days. 
 
 It’s only a couple of months since the Toulouse, France-based company filed a patent application for a new ultra-economy class concept that looked like a row of bicycle saddles. Now its scientists have dreamed up something much more outlandish: a revolutionary, futuristic aircraft design where passengers sit in a circular cabin enclosed in a sort of delta-wing structure. 
 
 Viewed from the side, the design looks like a raindrop on its side (or like some of the jet-propelled cars designed to break the world land speed record, if you prefer). Viewed from the top–and this is what makes you wonder about how team in Toulouse dreamed it up–it looks strangely reminiscent of a doughnut inside a “Jésuite”, a popular triangular French pastry. 
 
 The filing suggests almonds would be removed to improve aerodynamic performance. 
 
 According to the patent filing, Airbus’ scientists say it could provide a “simple, economic and efficient solution” to one of the main shortcomings of the traditional cylindrical passenger cabin: the need for relatively heavy “sealed bottoms” at the front and back of the tube to cope with the effects of pressurization. 
 
 Sadly for enthusiasts of air travel and sci-fi films, it looks like the project is going to remain on the drawing board for the foreseeable future. 
 
 “It’s just one of many ideas,” a spokesman for the company said, pointing out that Airbus files for over 600 patents a year, mainly just for the sake of protecting intellectual property. “It doesn’t mean that we’re going to be working on making it a reality.” 
 
 If Airbus were to try to develop the model commercially, it would have to overcome some formidable technical and regulatory obstacles. The fact that passengers are supposed to board from below via a hatch, for example, doesn’t sit comfortably with regulations on emergency exits. And such a radical design might easily require changes to the infrastructure at airports (much like the A380 did). 
 
 The Airbus spokesman couldn’t confirm whether the staff canteen in Toulouse sells Jésuites, either separately or together with doughnuts. ||||| Obese airline passengers don't have it easy, but one aircraft manufacturer has created a new design that may make flying more comfortable. 
 
 Airbus, one of the top aircraft manufacturers, has designed a bench geared to fit two overweight passengers, according to a patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The key to providing a spacious haven is the bench's customizable format, which allows for seat belts to be attached at different points to fit either larger or smaller passengers. 
 
 The bench isn't only geared toward obese passengers. Airbus notes that the seat can be configured to seat people with mobility problems or families with small children. The design comes at a time when America is struggling with an obesity epidemic, given that more than one-third of U.S. adults are considered obese. Conflicts between obese and thinner passengers have even led to lawsuits, with one man suing Etihad Airways last year for claiming that sitting next to a "grossly overweight" passenger left him with back injuries. 
 
 Airbus, for its part, said that it files "hundreds of patents each year." Spokesman Eduardo Galicia Roquero noted, "It does not mean that the idea described in the patent is being developed for any particular production application." 
 
 Whether or not the bench makes its way into airplanes, the idea has merit, given that many passengers, regardless of girth, have issues fitting into increasingly smaller economy seats. According to Airbus, two heavier passengers could sit side-by-side, with the seatbelts adjusted to fit them. The bench could also be reconfigured to fit a family of two adults and two smaller children, as well as three adults. 
 
 Airbus/United States Patent and Trademark Office 
 
 "In modern means of transport, particularly in aircraft, optimum utilization of the space available in a passenger cabin is of major economic importance," the patent application notes. "The cabin layout ... should be as flexibly, rapidly and easily reconfigurable as possible." 
 
 Pricing would be up to the airlines, but it's possible that the bench would allow airlines to charge obese passengers more money than a single economy ticket. Since the bench can fit three adults or a family of four, one could imagine an airline might consider the bench as seating for three or four people, and then charge fatter passengers accordingly. Some airlines already require obese passengers to buy two tickets, such as American Airlines, which requires that passengers whose bodies extend 1 inch beyond the armrest to buy two seats.
– If you were thinking of designing an aircraft shaped sort of like an enormous doughnut, we have some bad news for you: Airbus has already called it. The company has filed a patent application for a passenger aircraft in that very shape, the Financial Times reports. Why go for the doughnut look? Well, current aircraft face heavy pressure on their front and rear ends, requiring special support. "The purpose of the invention is particularly to provide a simple, economic, and efficient solution to these problems," Airbus says. The new design, which you can view here, also offers more room for passengers, CNBC reports. The "doughnut" does, of course, have its drawbacks. Boarding hatches—in the doughnut's "hole"—don't clearly fit emergency exit rules, Fortune notes, and the aircraft's shape might require airport redesigns. Either way, don't expect Dunkin' Donuts to start an airline anytime soon. "It’s just one of many ideas,” an Airbus rep tells Fortune. "It doesn’t mean that we’re going to be working on making it a reality." In fact, the company seeks more than 600 patents yearly, the rep tells the publication (though the Financial Times puts the figure at 6,000). For instance, Airbus recently sought a patent for standing "seats" that are basically bike saddles. (If that's not quite your desired comfort level, maybe try a flying three-room suite.)