It’s not an optical illusion: Airplane cabins are becoming more crowded.
Spirit’s seat pitch, for example, is about 28 inches, among the lowest in the industry. Spirit has seats that don’t recline, and the airline has argued the seat design makes the seat feel like more than 28 inches of room. Other airlines are opting for slimline seats too that forgo seat-back entertainment systems on some routes.
In addition to less pitch, there are more seats on board than ever. Airlines are scrambling to capitalize on record demand with more crowded cabins.
JetBlue for example, is retrofitting some of its Airbus A320s, taking them from 150 seats to 162. American Airlines is bumping jets that had 181 or 187 seats up to 190, and jets with 160 seats up to 172.
Lawmakers have attempted several times to set minimums on airplane seat dimensions, but have so far not succeeded in getting it into law. Last summer, an appeals court panel said the Federal Aviation Administration must reconsider whether to regulate seat size and spacing for safety reasons. One of the judges wrote in her ruling that it was “the case of the incredible shrinking airline seat.”
Source:CNBC
