Congressman Cohen Disappointed by Senate Vote Against Safety and Health of Airline Passengers

[WASHINGTON, DC] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation, today issued the following statement after the Senate voted down an amendment offered by Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) to legislation reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to establish minimum seat size standards for airplanes. Congressman Cohen is the author of bipartisan legislation in the House, the Seat Egress in Air Travel (SEAT) Act (H.R. 4490), that would require the FAA to establish minimum seat size and minimum distances between rows of seats to protect the safety and health of airline passengers.

“I am disappointed the Senate today voted down legislation to establish a minimum seat size for airplanes,” said Congressman Cohen. “I thank Senator Schumer and the bipartisan coalition of Senators who voted in favor of his amendment and for their efforts on this issue. I will continue to work with my colleagues in Congress to ensure the safety and health of airline passengers is protected. Planes need to be capable of rapid evacuation in case of emergency, yet appropriate testing has not been done on all of today’s smaller seats. In addition, doctors have warned that deep vein thrombosis can afflict passengers who don’t move their legs during longer flights. The time to examine the safety implications of smaller seats is now, not after some future tragedy.”

On February 11, 2016, the Congressman offered the SEAT Act as an amendment to the FAA Reauthorization Bill while it was being considered by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Despite bipartisan support for the Cohen amendment, it failed by a vote of 26-33.

Congress is working to renew authorization for the FAA with the current authority set to expire in July.

Recent press coverage of the SEAT Act can be found at: NY Times;Chicago Tribune; CBS Evening News; CBS Morning News; NBC’s Today Show; Washington Post; USA Today; Washington Post; CNN

Congressman Cohen’s Op-Ed on this issue was recently published in USA Today. You can read his Op-Ed here.