Despite Congressional hearings, Airlines move toward further legroom cuts
SEAT Act would establish minimum seat sizes for safety and health of U.S. airline passengers
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – One day after the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a hearing with airline executives entitled Oversight of U.S. Airline Customer Service, CNN reported that a least one airline is planning to shrink the distance between seats in some sections from 31 inches to as low as 29 inches and another is considering a similar move. Earlier this year, Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN) and Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) introduced the bipartisan H.R. 1476, the Seat Egress in Air Travel (SEAT) Act, to direct the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to establish minimum seat size standards necessary to ensure the safety and health of airplane passengers. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY), Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), and Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) introduced an identical bill in the U.S. Senate (S. 596). Congressman Cohen discussed the shrinking airline seats with the airline executives at the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing yesterday. You can watch his remarks here.
"It's like the entire message of yesterday's hearing was lost on the airline industry," said Congressman Cohen. "It is extremely frustrating to read that airlines are considering further decreases to legroom just hours after they told Congress they're working to improve the passenger experience. It seems as if they don't take Congress's concerns any more seriously than they take those of their passengers. Seat size is not just about comfort; it is about the safety and health of the flying public. Congress needs to pass the SEAT Act."
The average distance between rows of seats has dropped from 35 inches before airline deregulation in the 1970s to about 31 inches today. The average width of an airline seat has also shrunk from 18 inches to about 16 ½.
Congress is working to renew authorization for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) with the current authority set to expire on September 30, 2017. Congressmen Cohen and Kinzinger introduced the SEAT Act as an amendment to FAA Reauthorization legislation last year.
Previous 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