The Case of the Incredible Shrinking Airline Seat
Credit: InsuranceJournal.com
Modern seats are designed for able-bodied people up to 5’10” and under approximately 180 pounds, reflecting passenger sizes in the early 1960s. Since the 1990s, airlines shrunk seats and legroom (pitch) while passengers became larger, older, and less able-bodied. As a result, only about 25% of passengers can now fit in modern airline seats and passenger space in economy class where over 90% of passengers sit. Aisle widths and bathroom space have also been reduced significantly to pack more and more people into planes. The FAA has NO MINIMUM SEAT SIZE or PASSENGER SPACE REQUIREMENTS but there are MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR TRANSPORT OF ANIMALS. Just not humans.
Human Size Increases, comparing 1960-62 data to 2015-18 data
The average adult now weighs 186 pounds compared to 155 pounds in the early 1960s. One quarter of men now weigh over 224 pounds, and one quarter of women weigh over 195 pounds according to the CDC. About 15% of men are over 6 feet, and average height for adults has increased 2 inches.
Seat Size Shrinkage
Seats in first class are now similar to economy class prior to the deregulation of airlines in 1978. The average man’s shoulders are wider than the seat, and for persons over about 5’10” their head extends over the top of the seat and legs cannot be extended in a normal sitting position. People over 224 pounds are generally unable to sit in economy seats without intruding into the adjacent seat space or the aisle.
Average legroom or pitch has decreased from 35 to 31 inches, with the lowest pitch size being 28 inches (Spirit). Low cost carriers are typically at 29-30 inches. Width has decreased to 16-18 inches.
According to Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) data, domestic passenger load factors—the average percentage of seats filled—have increased from 77.16 percent in 2005 to as high as 89.2% in 2019. Load factor was above 85.5% for 7 of 12 months of 2019.
Safety: Emergency Evacuation
For many decades, the FAA has had a 90 second rule requiring every airliner certified by the FAA as safe for public transport to demonstrate it can evacuate a fully loaded plane, in low light conditions with half the exits disabled, within 90 seconds.
The FAA adopted this rule because historical accident statistics show that longer evacuation times greatly increases fatalities in otherwise survivable crash landings. Deaths are due to fire, smoke or drowning rather than impact trauma in most air crashes. This rule had always required a manufacturer to conduct an actual demonstration test. However, in the mid-1990s the FAA amended this regulation to allow “analysis” to substitute for an actual full scale evacuation test. Actual demonstrations are now rare and ones using unpracticed test subjects meeting the modern demographic profile of passengers are nonexistent. Manufacturers now can substitute analysis for demonstrations, and even substitute older data for contradictory, newer data.
FAA claims to amend the evacuation standards when it identifies new risks. FAA last reviewed the standards in 2011 and found the standards acceptable. DOT standards require review every 10 years, which DOT OIG says is insufficient to meet FAA’s SMS requirements for continuous risk monitoring to capture new risks such as increased carry-on baggage, changes in passenger demographics, and decreases in seat spacing.
NTSB asked the FAA to study passenger baggage behavior in 2000 and 2016, but the FAA had not yet developed a research program.
The DOT Inspector General Report of September 2020 also noted that the FAA stated in denying the FlyersRights seat petition in 2018 that the Boeing 737-300 and Airbus 320 had demonstrated successful emergency evacuation with 28 inch pitches. However, the IG found this to be untrue. The IG found out of 30 plane makers evacuation reports filed with the FAA, “almost all used seats with pitches larger than 28, some up to 38 inches.” Only one used 28 inches.
