Originally Posted by Transpacificflyer

Go right ahead, but I direct your attention to the nature of air travel in Canada: Because of the market size and the requirements to operate, the government has allowed the airline industry control on many aspects that would otherwise be regulated as they are in markets such as the EU and USA. The most obvious example are passenger rights and compensation provided when there is overbooking or delays. The Canadian airline sector has in large part been allowed to self regulate when it comes to passenger comfort and consumer protection.

I return to my point that it is not unreasonable that there be regulations that govern the space allocated for passenger aircraft seating. You have not provided one counter argument, save to arrogantly dismiss the opinions of those who you disagree with. The government sets safety standards for motor vehicles, so it is nothing extraordinary to set some minimum standards for airplanes.

In the USA the FAA certification process for an airplane requires a 90 second evacuation test. Do you disagree with this? Is this testing inappropriate? Who do you think is doing the certification in Canada? Well, this comes back to the airlines being allowed to self regulate. It is time to test the 90 second rule under realistic conditions. No more using healthy young adults who are anticipating an evacuation. It's time to stuff an airplane with a few wheelchair users, elderly, kids, fat people and intellectually challenged test subjects, have them sit for a minimum of 5 hours and then see if they can evacuate an airplane with the dense seating under 90 seconds. The airline industry in Canada has refused to undertake realistic testing. As long as the government doesn't intervene, airline passengers will fly with a false sense of security.

You claim that fares would increase 25% if there were some minimum standards. There might be some marginal increases on some routes, but I would like to know where you get your pricing model from. If you want to come out guns blazing and trash talking, you should base your arguments on factual information; you know "stuff" like a knowledge of the regulatory environment in Canada and the limited competition. The airline industry has operated and continues to operate in a quasi monopolistic state. That is how the parliamentary committee and Transport Canada along with just about every financial expert on Canada's air travel sector describes it. Note that I am not taking a position on the merits of the structure of the market, but I am merely recognizing what the state of the market is. This isn't an issue restricted to Air Canada. If the airlines want to keep the perks of the current market structure, they are going to have to give a little back.

The space issue isn't going away. The US will eventually pass some regulations, most likely once control of the House swings back to the Democrats. Once it happens in the USA, Canada will be obliged to follow if it wants to access the US market.Change will happen. It's like the long time it took to ban smoking on board airplanes. Big hue and cry. Oh, how the airlines would lose business and fares would increase. Didn't happen. It actually benefited the airline industry with less wear and tear. Same will happen with the seat sizes. There will be reduced air rage incidents, and less willful vandalism of the seats. Two expensive issues rarely mentioned by the airlines. Have a good look at some of the broken seats where pax have taken out their frustrations. It's getting nasty in the back of the bus.