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Brits are too fat for economy seats, says survey
Friday, 29 Nov, 2006
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Holidaymakers are becoming too fat to fit into conventional airline seats, according to a survey carried out on behalf of tour operator First Choice.
Between 1951 and 2002 the average female put on 1.5 inches around the hips, which now measure 40.5 inches. Across the shoulders, women have broadened from 13.8 inches to 14.5 inches, according to Bodymetrics, which analysed data from SizeUK, the UK national sizing survey.
Statistics for men were unavailable in 1951. However in 2002, the average man, sitting up straight, measured two inches more than women across the shoulders at 16.5 inches.
Based on the findings, Bodymetrics claimed that two thirds of men were now too broad shouldered for their neighbours’ comfort in an aeroplane seat of 16 inches wide, the narrowest available.
It claimed that in the standard airline seat, which measures 17 inches across, around one third of adult male passengers felt cramped.
Meanwhile, although only one in seven women were too broad in the narrowest seats available, they were more likely to feel the pinch further down. One in five were generously enough built to find a 16 inch seat a tight fit, while 5.3 per cent could do with more room in a seat that is one inch wider.
First Choice used the survey to promote its wider seats. Three out of four of its aircraft have a shoulder pitch of 17.8 inches, while its Boeing 757s, on short haul routes, offer 17.07 inches.
First Choice said it would be using the findings to lobby authorities to set an industry-wide standard for defining seat width.
“In the past, airlines have tended to push extra leg room as a selling point,” said a spokesman.
“But while it is common knowledge that people are taller than they used to be, the survey is the first to show just how much wider they have become.”
By Jeremy Skidmore (www.jeremyskidmore.com)
Jeremy Skidmore
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