Shrinking Seats, Growing Passengers Mean Cramped Conditions On Your Next Flight
NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) -- With shrinking seats and less leg room, passengers have been feeling cramped on airplanes.
But should they be concerned about safety as well as comfort?
"It's even hard to put the little tray down, because if somebody rolls back in a seat then it's stuck into you. So where do you put your drink, so you're holding things and your knees are always stuffed up in there," Lindsley Smith told CBS2's Magdalena Doris before a flight to Arkansas.
It's a common feeling with rows and seats getting tighter and tighter.
"The person in front of you is sitting in your lap, the person beside you is leaning on your shoulder, and the one behind you is kicking you in your back," Willie McIntosh said.
It's not just perception. Planes have been getting more cramped.
"Over the last ten years, the actual seat pitch, the distance from the back of one seat to another has gone down between four and six inches. That's a significant amount, and the actual width of the seat has shrunk about two inches," CBS News Travel Editor, Peter Greenberg said.
As seats got smaller, Americans got larger. According to the Centers For Disease Control, on average both men and women are 24 lbs heavier and an inch taller than they were in the 1960s.
While the tighter quarters are government approved, Congressman Steve Cohen of Tennessee argued that it's unsafe and should be regulated more.
"We should be concerned not just with comfort, but particularly with safety and health. Because there will be a crash, and there will be people who will not be able to get out of a plane because of this situation," he said.
Cohen's legislation did not pass on Thursday in the house committee vote.
Captain Pete Russo said it wouldn't fly with airlines either because they're in the money making business.
"Economics determines the size of the human space," Russo said.
Experts said when booking a flight, travelers should look for a small airplane like an airbus that will actually provide more room. A 737 will have more passengers, more seats, and less space.
