Appeals Court Orders FAA To Investigate Shrinking Airline Seating

Above, the economy seating in a Singapore Airlines Airbus A380. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Two years ago, I found out first hand how smaller current airline seating is uncomfortable, especially during my 11-hour flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo. I was getting leg cramps and I had to get up and walk them off frequently. Despite the planes being Airbus A380s, the smaller seating area was very noticeable.

Airline seating space has been shrinking, making passengers more uncomfortable and it could be a safety issue, an airline consumer advocacy group contends.

According to an article from Travel + Leisure:

The Federal Administration of Aviation (FAA) must investigate “the Case of the Incredible Shrinking Airline Seat” after judges from a U.S. Court of Appeals sided with a fliers’ rights group last week. 

Flyersrights.org, an airline consumer advocacy group, won their fight against the FAA when the D.C. District Court of Appeals decided that the government agency must readdress a petition from two years ago. 

The petition asked that the FAA “set maintenance standards and limit the extent of seat size changes,” according to the court’s opinion. Flyers Rights also hoped that the FAA would appoint “an advisory committee or task force to assist and advise the Administration in proposing seat and passenger space rules and standards.”

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