Flying has gotten more cramped lately, but the good news is that airline seats likely won’t be getting much smaller. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Bill working its way through congress requires the agency to set minimum seat width and pitch standards within a year. In a separate move, the Department of Transportation Inspector General has begun an audit to determine whether evacuations in today’s more cramped airline cabins can still meet the 90-second standard for deplaning passengers in the case of an emergency. A new study from consulting firm ICF shows that in the U.S. domestic fleet, the average number of seats per aircraft has increased by nearly eight percent over the past 15 years. So perhaps it’s time for some regulation?
