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US Lawmakers Propose Minimum Seat Sizes For Airlines (consumerist.com)
The size of each passenger's seat on an airplane -- as well as the distance between rows of seats -- should be standardized, according to legislation proposed by two American lawmakers. Slashdot reader AmiMoJo quotes Consumerist:
The text of the bill does not specify any dimensions for seat widths or legroom. Rather, if the legislation is passed, the particulars would be left up to the FAA to sort out... Though seat size may vary from airline to airline, Cohen notes that the average distance between rows of seats has dropped from 35 inches before airline deregulation in the 1970s, to around 31 inches today. Your backside is getting the squeeze, as well, as the average width of an airline seat has also shrunk from 18 inches to about 16.5 inches.
It's about time! I don't fit in a standard airline seat, so currently have 3 options - Pay for business class, have an uncomfortable flight for me and seat neighbours, or don't fly. In recent years I've been taking option 3 more and more often.
I'm not particularly fat, I'm just 6'6 and broad shouldered. With each generation getting bigger than their parents it doesn't make sense to be reducing seat sizes year on year.
"US Lawmakers Solicit Campaign Donations From Airlines"
It's not going to pass. There'll be a storm of lobbying activity and the proposal will quietly die at the bottom of a drawer somewhere...
Log in or piss off.
These days I avoid flying if I can. I'd rather drive 10 hours then put up with lines in security, getting molested by the TSA, sitting in a tiny seat in a tin can with a dozen screaming babies and sneezing people...
But, those small seats are why some people can afford to fly. I'd like larger seats, sure - but I'd rather see that solved by the airlines instead of the government sticking their nose into the market yet again.
Imagine this:
Enjoy our spacious, comfortable seats on your flight with a full two feet of leg room. With no children under thirteen, you can be assured that your flight will be completed in peace. We still serve complimentary drinks and snacks and offer free pillows, so you'll be refreshed when you land. Why suffer? Fly NottaCrap Airline for only $100 more. Enjoy the experience. (tm)
They'd have people stampeding to get tickets.
Love sees no species.
Is there a problem having the "market" sort this out? Why [the attempt to] legislate it?
If this were some regimes in the east, we'd be trumpeting our "luck" for living in the west, where we have "all the freedom"' and minimal government involvement in our lives.
Because if your ass is as big as his ass, you too fat to fly in one seat!
theaters. Minus the age restriction and free snacks this is exactly what some of the big theater chains are doing to try to get people to come back to the movies.
The AMC near me just ripped out all of their seats and put in leather recliners with enough leg room that people can walk by without you having to stand up (or so says the wife, I haven't been yet). Unfortunately they can't control the kids on their fucking phones and rude dumb fucks talking.
I remember what it was like to go to the theater and actually be engaged by the movie and not the other assholes in the room. I feel bad for people too young to know what that magic is like.
On my last flight from CPH to LAS and back again(about 10 hours each way). I booked a 1000$ seat instead of a 500$ seat to get a "premium" seat, and it was worth it. I could open my laptop and play games, I there was room for my legs and even to each side in the seat, I could even recline my seat enough to get a decent nap. :)
But often you don't have the option of a seat double the price, you have to pay three or four times as much as the next step up.
I have been traveling with other people that are below the average size for scandinavians, and that always say that they have no problems with the small seats, and yet their elbows are always entering my space.
Of course they're seeing "nuances". The whole thing was a carefully crafted wedge issue upon which the Republicans could scream and shout. And ridiculously, they were screaming about a health care bill based almost entirely on a Republican health care bill -- RomneyCare.
But the ACA is government intrusion! (Actually, it is, in a good way.) It's dying! (CBO says it's stable, though it is having issues in some Republican-based states who fought it in the first place.) It's raised my rates! (It's true that rates have increased, though not as much as rates would have increased without it. And part of that is through elimination of "insurance" plans that some people paid for that covered basically nothing at all.)
Regardless, now that the Republicans COULD pass the same bill, they're stalling why they try to figure out the actual political impact of kicking millions of registered voters off the ACA and off of Medicaid, not to mention dramatically raising insurance rates for millions of others.
So much for "more people will have more access to more affordable health care."
Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
... if the legislation is passed, the particulars would be left up to the FAA to sort out...
The FAA reauthorization expires in 198 days.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
While we're at it, I'd like to propose a few more regulations about things that piss me off:
Might makes right irrelevant.
It's the seat on my bicycle.
And I enjoyed every bit of it! I call it Bicycle Class!
Most Respectfully Yours Mark Allyn Bellingham, Washington
So because you are a special snowflake air travel has to become more expensive for us normal folks?
**Life is too short to be serious**
Purely autonomous personal vehicles will solve this.
Recline your car seat back all the way and get in at 9 PM and have the car drive you all night long.
No TSA hassles. No rumblings about paying extra for a carry on bag, a snack that should cost $1 instead costing $5, or being kicked by the guy behind you getting out of his seat because he has a small bladder.
Driverless cars won't be the end of domestic airlines, but they will have to adapt to keep customers.
Help! I'm a slashdot refugee.
This "more regulation" will not going to fly with the current administration. They will either need to "remove two regulations" to make face, or not do it at all.
That being said, we were able to vote with our dollars until very recently when there was real competition in the airline industry. Now there are only a few major airlines, and everything seems to be going downwards, at the passengers' expense. Wouldn't it be better to break them up again for better competition? This way we don't need to wait for the house to pass laws to get better service.
#1 reason is the (illegal) TSA treating everyone like a criminal...searching EVERYONE in the name of "safety" (giving up your rights as a citizen...in the name of security LMAO). #2, I remember when just 30+ years ago, it was still somewhat of a treat to get on an airliner. I even remember as a kid, anyone would walk right up to the gate of the airplane, to see someone depart or arrive. Heck, you even got REAL China, REAL stainless steel knives and forks. #3, flying today? Nothing more than cattle being transported from one location to the other. Rude people, rude staff at times, courtesty out the door. Wonder how long it will be, until public transit hand rails will come along, and everyone is made to stand during the flight. Gotta maximize the passenger load. Sorry...I'll just drive to where I need to go. Screw the airlines, TSA and all that other crap!
instead of interfering on behalf of the gluttons and the expense of everyone else, why not just mandate that the purchase page disclose the dimensions of the seat.
Snowden and Manning are heroes.
Don't you see me with this small woman on my shoulders? You don't have any one on your shoulders! Why am I subsidizing you??
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
Just like cargo, you should pay per kilogram.
Dialectician. Archology.
If the lobbyists dont make it, they can't affect the proposal.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
They're all about reducing regulations, deregulating airlines and letting the market sort issues out. They'll stick to their principles and never let additional regulation pass.
FAA has dual mandate. One to issue regulation and to enforce compliance. Second to promote air travel. It is high time we remove language regarding promotion of air travel. It does not make sense anymore. It should only be concerned with safety and compliance.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
A while back there was Midwest Express Airlines. They were formed from the Kimberly Clark internal flight department, and was based in Milwaukee. They flew DC-9 and MD-80 planes with 2 X 2 seating, good legroom, good food, and baked on-board cookies.
The flights I took were only about $20 more than the competition. It was a great way to fly.
Then the internet came along and destroyed them. People will always choose the flight that comes out the cheapest, although there's a little leeway to pay more for a flight that doesn't leave at 4 AM.
Midwest couldn't compete, so they eventually went to standard seating and cut back on services. By then they were just like any other airline, except with a limited route structure that couldn't compete with the big airlines.
I rarely fly, but when I do I try to fly on Airbus narrow body planes, or Embraer regional jets. Those usually have 18 inch wide seats..
Hi, Certification for emergency evacuation requires a test of real people evacuating in less than a specified amount of time. These tests are done with all airline employees as passengers, all physically fit, all alert, all expecting the drill to occur, and with no luggage. More seats means more less-physically fit passengers, clueless and sleepy passengers, kids, handicapped pax, and lots and lots of luggage and obstructions. Make safety the number 1 reason for seat minimums.
The market has failed, thus legislation was proposed.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
Lawmakers can do what the market cannot - force the larger seats to happen.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
Since cramped seating is known to increase the chances of a DVT, and WILL slow people evacuating the plane, health and safety are involved.
Did you miss where I said this: There are already standards for aviation safety and airworthiness.
The FAA certifies commercial aircraft to the proper standards that allow safe evacuation in an emergency. If there is a problem in that process, then let's fix the FAA so that they do it right. The proposed legislation sort of says "we know better than the FAA." Like someone else in this discussion said: "US Lawmakers Solicit Campaign Donations From Airlines".
Part of the FAA's job is to employ aviation safety experts to figure things out like appropriate minimum seat dimensions and separation. In any event, if legislators want to do something like this, then they should at least be honest and not say it is a safety issue.
Ideally, yes, the FAA would call bullshit on a seat shrink until proper evacuation studies are completed. They would also be looking in to the DVT issue as a potential flight safety issue. Since they haven't done those things, it's time for that balance of power thing to step in and direct them to do their job.
is this law proposition coming from lawmakers that were recently forced to fly cattle class and didn't like it ?
Solution: take out all the seats and make everybody stand.