Tchiowa

Airlines didn't specify smaller seats. The majority of the passengers did, in order to keep cost down.

The sarcasm in your last couple of posts aside, the issue is not particularly complex. mmff's solution is precisely correct. The airlines have bigger seats available, at a higher price. If you're too big to fit in the standard airline seat, blame your parents.

WillCAD

Can you cite your source? Is there a survey anywhere, any time, where travelers were asked, "Do you want smaller seats?" and they said yes?

Annalisa12

Regular size folks would like that too.

Bugs me when everyone tells a POS to upgrade to 1st. Sometimes First only has an extra inch of room. Hardly the saviour. Also, some people who suggest that assume everyone has tons of money.

username

Interesting this thread surfaced up. Well, this happened to me when I came home last week (a 1900+ mile flight) and my first reaction was thinking about this thread

I was the last to board. He also initially took my aisle seat because "the flight attendant told me to take this [aisle] seat." I insisted it was my seat so he moved back to the middle seat.

It actually was not too bad. The "overflow" was minor. He is aware he is big and did not move much. So, he bumped into me a lot less than some other much smaller people. I was feeling sorry for him that he had to be stuck in such a restricted space for almost 5 hours.

lloydah

Well the bottom line is that, as a whole, the population in the western world generally is getting wider." Is it possible to get airlines to acknowledge this fact by providing seats that won't be so uncomfortable, because if it isn't the situation will simply get worse and we can all see the grief it causes at the moment. There are some interesting, practical and relatively cheap ideas here that would alleviate the problem. Don't we all feel like slapping the CEOs until they see sense? I bet the first airline to try something new - and I don't mean reducing the width to 4 inches! - would soon start a trend and make a profit.

Tchiowa

Yes, there is a survey. It's taken every day. It's called "people buying tickets". They are voting with their wallets. E+ seats, with more leg room, usually are only about 10% of economy seating. But they sell last. Economy will sell out but there are still E+ seats available. Clear choice of preference for cost over comfort.

The seats on planes used to be wider with much more legroom. Then came the LCCs who offered smaller seats, less legroom and limited service but with lower cost. The flying public voted with their wallets to accept the LCC deal. Other airline had no choice but to adapt.

Most people vote the same way when they fly. After all they can buy F on domestic or B on international and get a much more comfortable seat. If they don't, then they are voting that cost is more important to them than comfort.

Calliopeflyer

But extra legroom isn't what we're talking about here - we're really talking extra width. "Comfort" doesn't necessarily mean extra legroom.

I wouldn't ever pay for an E+ seat with extra legroom, because I don't have long legs and I don't care about extra legroom. I don't like bulkhead seats or emergency exit rows. However, I would pay the same amount of money for an upgrade to E+ (or whatever you want to call it, depending on the airline) for even an extra 1.5" of width.

Tchiowa

The question asked of me was the survey that passengers prefer cost over comfort. I cited it. Legroom is only one example. LCCs came in with narrower seats, less legroom, less recline, poorer food, etc. and we the flying public voted with our wallets that cost was more important. And we continue to vote that way today.

There are seats in domestic First that are wider and have more legroom and better cushions and recline more and you get better food. And they cost more.

Cast your vote on your next flight.

catocony

As stated when this thread was first started, telling someone to plunk down $2,000 to sit in first ($6,000 for biz on international) is not a workable solution. Telling someone to buy a second seat at the gate isn't very workable, since the vast majority of passengers won't do it. If the airlines were to try and enforce it more, they bad press and lawsuits would put a stop to it quickly (remember Kevin Smith?).

So, with planes routinely 100% full, you're right back to the fact that you can complain to an FA or GA, but all they're going to tell you is sorry, and to tough it out. Mitigating the problem - such as sitting on the aisle - is about what you're left with. If you keep complaining that the POS needs to get a second seat or he/she must leave, then the POS will get a second seat - yours, as you're the one offloaded for interfering with a flight crew.

Now, one solution could theoretically be to set up, in coach, a system like European domestic biz class. It's just coach, but with the middle seat blocked. The other two seats in that row would be for sale only, and not for a Y or M price. Never cheap, but somewhere like an E fare and up. Less than first or biz, and less than having to buy a second seat at a Y fare at the gate.

As far as making seats wider, on some planes you could, but on 737.757, you can't really put in wider seats. They're narrow planes. But, there's usually not much else on domestic routes these days.

Tchiowa

Why not?

And there is your answer. "Won't" do it. But that simply means they are making a choice. It's not worth $2,000 to them so they don't pay it. Doesn't mean they can't. It means that they prefer to spend the $2,000 on something more important to them. (food, clothing)

Life is about choices.

catocony

Yes, life is about choices. However, the airlines will not force a passenger to fork over thousands of dollars just to placate another passenger. Most men would fall into the category of "crowders" due to shoulder width. Very tall people too. Pregnant women might very well fall into it. It would become very subjective and is thus completely unworkable.

On your average 737, with say 130 people or so in coach, probably 30%-50% would be consider a crowder if you go by who can completely fit every body part - shoulders, elbows, hips, knees - into a 17" wide box. Yes, there are examples where people weighing 400 pounds or are over 6'10" are in coach and clearly can't fit in a single seat. But those examples are very rare. I've flown over 1.8 million bis miles and have seen maybe a half dozen examples of that.

satman40

Just wait till your health care bills escalate from the POS Factor.

This is all about responsible decisions, but then we had a Credit Crisis, they did not want to pay their loans back...few Riots from people stealing and trying to shoot a few cops..a few years ago it was they were taking over empty homes, and private property.,

But they they did not build that....Have another bit...

sethb

Not all people are overweight, and not all overweight people are overweight for the same reason.

Yes, that would help. But it would require competence on the part of the airlines, which isn't all that likely.

sethb

"Do you want smaller seats at a lower price or more space for a higher price?" American Airlines found that people won't pay $10 extra for more space (at least, not enough would to make it a profitable tradeoff for them).

I trust reality, and people acting as they choose, over surveys.

sethb

You can bet that all you want; reality has shown otherwise. Airlines tried giving more space for more money, and passengers balked and went to the cheaper airlines. They're selling almost all their seats now; what sort of "sense" do you want them to see? That they're making you unhappy by making money?