The Traveller's Magazine
US pressure group, FlyersRights, have filed a petition asking for legislation on airplane seat size. The group is demanding America’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for ‘a regulation mandating minimum seat width and seat pitch for commercial airlines.’
The group is criticizing airlines for decreasing passenger’s personal room on flights in order to squeeze in more seats, resulting in more paying passengers. This, however, comprises passengers comfort and even puts their health and safety at risk.
We’ve all been there, it’s mid-flight and we’re in the middle of an epic game of battle of wills with the guy in the seat next to us who doesn’t know personal boundaries, or which seat is mine. So many people can identify with the groups desire to stop airlines from reducing our personal space even further.
The petition is initially targeting US airlines, but if adopted, would have implications for the rest of the airline industry.The FlyerRights group which has 60,000 members and supporters, and is the largest non-profit organization representing airline passengers.
Paul Hudson, President of FlyersRights, says. “We filed the petition in August to have the FAA set minimum seat and passenger space standards. The reason is that airlines are aggressively reducing seat size and legroom, while the average passenger is substantially larger and older, leading to increased health and safety risks – and comfort and conflict issues due to overcrowding.”
