For fliers who feel like pretzels in their cramped seats, there’s little relief in sight.
“Aircraft designers are dealing with space limitations,” writes The Los Angeles Times.
“But airlines are trying to cope with a range of passenger sizes. As a result, comfort is now defined as the absence of pain and injury.”
Seats are smaller and thinner than ever. Airlines have been installing less padded, lighter seats while complying with an FAA regulation requiring that all aircraft built after October 2009 have seats designed to withstand 16 times the force of gravity, said the report. The current requirement is nine times the force of gravity.
Making the situation worse: Americans are getting taller and fatter.
“They’re spilling into other people’s spaces,” said Peter Budnick, president and chief executive of Park City, Utah-based Ergoweb Inc., an ergonomics consulting and training company that has examined airline seating.
Report by David Wilkening
