The passenger squeeze- jetliner seats!
Should there be a minimum seat size for flying?
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If you’ve ever banged your knee on the airplane seat in front of you, been squeezed at the shoulder by fellow passengers, or had a seat recline into your lap, you have a week to speak up. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is listening to flyers and others until November 1.
The question is, should there be a minimum seat size on airliners and if so, what should that size be? If you’ve flown over the past few decades you have watched the “incredible shrinking seat,” on jetliners. The seats have gotten narrower and the distance between rows, known as pitch, has shrunk too. Passengers can get a bit more room these days if they are willing to pay for those extra inches.
(Credit: Getty Images)
The FAA is taking comments on seat size because it was ordered to do so by Congress. Politicians often have a few pet policies that they are passionate about. When it comes to the “incredible shrinking seat,” the current majority leader of the Senate is one of the most vocal critics of the airlines.
Just a week ago, Sen. Chuck Schumer appeared before cameras to tell Americans that they still have time to tell the FAA what they think about airliner seat size. “The seats are shrinking,” he said. Schumer says this is the number one complaint he hears from flyers. “Whether it’s between seats or between rows, passenger onboard space has gotten smaller and smaller and smaller.”
Sen. Chuck Schumer on Senate floor in 2016 arguing for an amendment to require a minimum seat size of jetliners. (Credit: C-SPAN)
As I mentioned, this is nothing new for Schumer. Six years ago he was saying the same thing on the Senate floor as he argued for language to require the FAA to set a minimum seat size. Over the last few decades, “the flying public has lost a half a foot of their space,” he said. When the FAA got its funding, it also got the Congressional order to set a seat size.
The FAA has been taking comments since the summer. Already, nearly 14,000 comments have been made. Many commenters have called for more seat space on planes. One group believes the FAA has been dragging its feet.FlyersRights points out the FAA was supposed to have rules in place in 2019. Just this month the passenger rights group filed a petition with what it believes the minimum seat size should be on commercial aircraft.
Diagram from an FAA safety document. (Credit: FAA)
FlyersRights wants a seat that is just over 20 inches wide compared to the current average of what it says is 16-19 inches. Pitch, the distance between rows, should be 32 inches rather than the current 27-31 inches.
The key issue here, beyond comfort, is safety. Advocates of a standard seat size use the safety issue to make their point. The FAA requires that a commercial airliner can be evacuated in 90 seconds or less. Every time a new jetliner is certified, the maker must conduct a simulated evacuation to prove it can beat the 90 second standard.
Simulated evacuation of an Airbus A380 for aircraft certification. (Credit: Discovery Channel)
Many critics believe the narrower seats and reduced pitch suggest that jets that may have been certified with larger seats and more pitch might not be able to meet the requirement.
The FAA disagrees. The agency conducted additional research and in a paper last year admitted that while seats have gotten smaller and Americans have gotten larger and heavier, “this did not significantly impact egress time as expected based on previous research.”
The FAA may be signaling it doesn’t think the smaller seats and narrower pitch pose a safety hazard. So it’s possible the safety argument won’t work. The question is whether the comments from consumers, and pressure from politicians about comfort will force the agency to stop the “incredible shrinking seat.”
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(Cover Image Credit: Getty Images)