Cramped Seats Can Kill!  

Today air flight is an essential part of life for a large proportion of people in the developed world and although we are growing taller and taller each generation, it would appear that airline seats are shrinking. A recent Gallup Poll of US passengers confirmed what many tall people know already as the single biggest complaint related to the lack of legroom. In fact 25% of passengers were dissatisfied with the provision of legroom, by far and away the largest cause of dissatisfaction amongst the 14 different aspects of flying surveyed. It is clear from the figures (25% dissatisfied) that it is not only tall people that are dissatisfied but obviously it is this group that must suffer most discomfort.

You might think that airlines would be more concerned with this issue that clearly affects a large proportion of airline travelers! In fact we should all be concerned as specialists have actually discovered a medical complaint called “economy class syndrome” According to the British medical journal The Lancet, the symptoms can appear several weeks after a flight or as short as three hours. The syndrome can result in anything from minor body pains and shortness of breath to heart attacks and strokes. Doctors suspect that cramped legroom in economy class combined with the effects of dehydration interrupts the blood flow which causes clots, cutting off the supply of oxygen to various parts of the body. This may account for the results of one study that showed that 18% of sudden deaths on airplanes are due to blood clots in the lungs. When Paul Kite stepped off a transatlantic flight at London’s Heathrow Airport with a stiff leg he assumed that it would it soon go away. A week later the Canadian was in a British hospital with a six-centimetre blood clot in a vein below his left knee. Doctors told him he had a potentially deadly condition called deep vein thrombosis. Kite is convinced cramped seating caused his condition and he says that the doctors that treated him agreed. To minimise the risks of this condition Dr Hugh O’Neill, Transport Canada’s director of civil aviation recommends that passengers flex their legs while seated and take as much exercise as possible, in addition they should drink non-alcoholic beverages. Smoking should also be avoided and some people might consider taking aspirin to thin the blood. But what about the seats? Clearly the problem is most acute for those traveling economy class but there are strategies that can be employed to ensure the greatest comfort possible. You might consider asking the travel agent when booking, which airline is proposed for your flight and the details of the seat plan and seat pitch (the distance from the back of one seat to the back of another.) You might be surprised how much the pitch can vary from one airline and plane type to another. The International Air Transport Association, the industry group for the world’s airlines, has no standards on pitch. The British Civil Aviation Authority requires a minimum 28", although Britain’s Consumers Association insists that any one over 6 feet tall needs at least 31". “Basically, each airline has its own standards and the savvy traveler picks the carrier according to where they can get most legroom,” says Wanda Potrykus a spokesperson for the air transport association of Montreal. The figures below may be of some help when choosing an airline though it is important to get as much up to date information as possible about the carrier through your travel agent. The information in  Table A below was compiled by David Hiles a 6 ft 4 inch economist with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The extreme discomfort of his flight on a British Airways flight from Washington to London moved him to carry out his own survey.

Table A

A more recent survey of airline seats was carried out earlier this year by London’s Evening Standard, (Table B) which looked at both seat width and pitch on economy flights leaving London.

Table B

Seats adjoining emergency exits provide the most legroom because aviation authorities regulate the minimum depth of aisles in exit rows. The FAA calls for a clearance between the seats of at least 20" but an FAA spokesman recently stated that the agency now accepts 13" aisle clearance. Even this clearance requires a pitch of 36-40" so passengers willing and able (there are restrictions) to sit in exit rows have significantly more room. Bulkhead seats (the ones facing partitions between sections of the cabins) usually provide a few extra inches, but lack of ‘wiggle room’ afforded by having access to floor space under the seat in front makes them less attractive. Aisle seats may also be preferred although the risk of obstructing the walkways may again make them unattractive.

If the situation is to improve passengers must make airlines aware of their unhappiness. Vote with your wallet, choose the airlines that provide most legroom,( these are not always the cheapest) and persuade your travel agent to reserve you the best seat available. Hiles hopes that pressure from passengers will persuade airlines to add a few economy class seats with extra legroom, at least for long flights, for which they could charge more than regular economy fare but less than business class fares. What do you think? Please let us know your views at extratall@uk2.net

Click here for  report from Yahoo News.