Flying Coach Is So Cramped It Could Be a Death Trap

[GeorgeGist]

For years the airlines have been allowed to steadily shrink the size of coach class seats and the space between seat rows without regulators considering the impact of this on safety. A Daily Beast investigation has found:

• The tests carried out to ensure that all the passengers can safely exit a cabin in an emergency are dangerously outdated and do not reflect how densely packed coach class seating has become—or how the size of passengers has simultaneously increased;

• No coach class seat meets the Department of Transportation’s own standard for the space required to make a flight attendant’s seat safe in an emergency;

• Neither Boeing nor the Federal Aviation Administration will disclose the evacuation test data for the newest (and most densely seated) versions of the most widely used jet, the Boeing 737.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/flying-coach-is-so-cramped-it-could-be-a-death-trap

Did I mention that I have learned to hate flying.

[HughBeaumont]

1. If anything, Flying has increased my tolerance for driving.

I'm not rich enough to fly first class, so I'm trapped like a common dogshit sardine for hours . . . sometimes not even next to my wife, as these airlines think it's a good idea to separate us.

[HipChick]

2. Most of people in First Class don't pay for it

they are there as part of airline upgrade status..frequent fliers etc....

[dembotoz]

6. have a friend who travels for work...she flies very often

i do not complain about her upgrades....her company spends literally thousands of dollars a year sending her all over. it is only rational for an airline to treat a constant spender better.

if the airline loses my business? who the hell cares...her business....that is something else

[SharonClark]

8. How does the airline sparate you from your wife?

[HughBeaumont]

9. The last few times I've flown .. . .

. . . and this usually happens on the connecting flights, they for some reason seat us in different sections when boarding passes are assigned. This is a relatively new occurrence.

Depending on the length of the flight, we usually re-arrange things at the desk without issue.

[wryter2000]

3. This spring I flew Lufthansa to Europe

It was a revelation. So much room, so many amenities, such service.

These days, I fly Southwest everywhere I go in the U.S. The short hops are fine, but I dread being on a plane for more than an hour.

If Amtrak can get you where you need to go without changing trains, consider it. It'll take a lot longer, but you can relax and enjoy yourself.

[Major Nikon]

4. The effort has about as much chance as a fart in a whirlwind

While it's true that FAA certification standards for evacuations haven't changed all that much, it doesn't really matter. The manufacturer must demonstrate that a fully loaded cabin can be evacuated in a specified amount of time. So regardless of what the specifics are inherent to any particular model, the standard is the same and it just isn't that complicated as they are trying to make it sound.

If anything airliners today are far more survivable than they have ever been due to all sorts of design improvements that most certainly have been incorporated into FAA certification standards. The idea that planes today "could" be "death traps" just doesn't pass the smell test.

[TexasProgresive]

5. Death can come without the need to exit in an emergency.

Deep Vein Thrombosis from not being able to move legs enough. I hate flying as well. It has become an ordeal. What ever happen to "Fly the Friendly Skies"?

On my 1st flight around 1970 on a 707 in coach or economy I was comfortable and if the person in front of me reclined their seat it was NO PROBLEMO! I haven't been on a bus in years but the bus seating on Greyhound was quite comfortable. We use to ride the bus on the Houston/New Orleans route regularly. That was around 10 hours with stops in Beaumont, Lake Charles, Baton Rouge.

[Lifelong Protester]

7. I hate flying! Used to love it.

I feel cramped whenever I fly. I feel like they just want to take your money.



I am pretty sure that if you were seated by a window, you wouldn' get out. My luck, anyway.