U.S. Pat. No. 4,460,215 (Chamberlain et al.) discloses a flight attendant seat of the above type. The conventional seat comprises a tiltable or foldable seat structure including mounting hardware for mounting the seat to a wall. The seat further includes a seat shell frame having a front portion and a rear portion, the seat further includes a backrest frame having an upper and a lower portion. The seat shell frame is connected with its rear portion to the above mentioned hardware including a first pivot connection, in such a way that the seat shell frame is tiltable generally between a horizontal use position and a generally vertical rest position. A second pivotal connection secures the upper portion of the backrest frame to respective hardware rigidly secured to a wall in such a way that the lower portion of the backrest frame is tiltable between a use position and a rest position. A guide mechanism including an elongated guide hole is provided for operating the backrest frame. One end of the guide mechanism is connected in a pivotal manner to the lower portion of the backrest frame in such a way that the guide mechanism is tiltable between a generally vertical tilted out position and a generally horizontal stop position, whereby the lower portion of the backrest frame is brought into its use position. A crank having a crank pin is rigidly connected with said crank pin to the seat shell frame so that it is tiltable with the seat shell frame. The crank and the guide mechanism cooperate with the seat shell frame and with the backrest frame in such a manner that rearwardly directed loads which are effective in the lower portion of the backrest frame are introduced as compression forces through the guide mechanism into the respective hardware without any torsional forces becoming effective on the guide mechanism.
When the just described conventional seat is brought into its use position, the lower portion of the backrest is tilted about a pivot point located in the upper portion of the backrest. This tiltability of the backrest does not serve the purpose of a comfortable sitting position. Rather, it serves for providing a storage space for the seat portion when the latter is brought into its rest position. This type of conventional seat is relatively uncomfortable, especially during flights of longer duration because in its use position the known seat has a fixed geometry. Thus, it is not possible to adjust the known seat into different seating positions.