LA Times Article: How Many People Would Purchase A Smaller Seat For a Smaller Price?

Not me. I am 5'4" and prefer the leg space I currently am given. Thirty inches from the head rest of my chair to the back of the chair in front of me? I guess that is a reclined chair in front of me.

Even if it is not, I'll take the same legroom as everyone else in coach.

We already have economy minus, but it's now called economy. Economy plus is the same size as seats were a few years ago. They made the seats smaller and smaller, then brought back the same sized seats for more money. It's called the "Potato Chip Syndrome" (One pounder, it's bigger).

Free market doesn't work without transparency. The government should require airlines to offer a standard seat size and post the price; then consumers can actually compare prices ($/sq in) for seats.

And yes, it has become a matter of safety. Remember the safety cards that showed the crash position - head down behind the seat in front. Very few people can get into that position with today's pitch.

Thx Lee.

You said it so much better than I could have!

I am tired of airlines restricting my movement while I fly whether here in the States or overseas. Would love to compare the leg room of a DC6 (1964 - first plane I traveled in) with that of economy United today.

Just completed a transatlantic flight in a B757 narrow body. I can't imagine a smaller, less comfortable seat than we had on that plane. It's shameful. Add to that I just learned of an acquaintance who had to make a long-haul flight in a narrow-body jet; he suffered a pulmonary embolism the next day and died. You HAVE to get up and move around on long flights; but that's getting hard to do these days.

I saw article recently about airlines' plans to reconfigure planes to add more rows, by using newly designed thinner seats. Thinner in the cushioning and padding, that is. Some seats (exit rows) will have hard seats. Looks like most of the majors considering it.

I'm 5'1" and would not consider booking a smaller seat to save money. I book an aisle seat and still can't get comfortable. Last flight the guy in front of me reclined his seat so far that I almost had to balance my book on his head. Bad idea.

2 - Stan . . .

After reading your post, should I (in about 2 yrs) include my stadium seats/cushions as part of my carry-ons? ;-)

Kimberly,

There's no way I would choose a seat with less room than the present Economy class seats, even if it did mean saving a few bucks. I can barely get into the seats now and on a nine hour or more flight, sitting in a smaller seat with less pitch would be a miserable ordeal.

I also would never save money by booking a smaller seat. I'm only 5 feet tall and the legroom is bad enough for people of my height; I can't image how bad it is for taller people, especially taking into account a personal item under the seat in front.

This is another example of airlines asking us to pay more for less (literally), and we do it because we travel for business or to visit family/friends or just for fun. How does one protest something like this?

@Lee - you made a great point about the safety brochures and the spacious quarters they depict! Everyone seems to be in first class, with all the legroom and huge seats!

RE: " The government should require airlines to offer a standard seat size and post the price..."

More government regulation beyond safety on what is suppose to be a free market economy?

How about the buyer beware alternative approach to voting one's dollars. Information websites provide useful seat width and pitch on close to a seat by seat basis: http://www.seatguru.com/

That said, I am amazed that airlines can evacuate full flights in 90 seconds or less with half the exits blocked and luggage in the aisles. I'm wondering if the test passengers include older passengers who partook of too many buffet dinners. It seems that it takes tens of minutes to exit a full flight if you have a high numbered seat.

Don't people already do this when they choose to fly Spirit? They already have seats where the pitch is only 28".

Pay less for less? Personally, I think the seats should be on rollers. The more you pay the farther the seat is rolled away from the seat in front of you. EZ Peazy.

Kimberly,

this is where management has no idea on reality. I would love for them to be put in the back with their family and see how they like it. Im sure things would change a lot or the idiots would change their mind.

as i say, "greed overcomes all doubt". Im thinking on some international flight somewhere, there will be an in-flight riot and then and only then, will things change.

i really dont think our regulators will do anything until after the fact. They have no foresight and are reactionary.

happy trails.

"More government regulation beyond safety on what is suppose to be a free market economy? "

Here government regulation would just be requiring the airlines to clearly state what they are selling so the consumers CAN vote with their dollars. Why is honest representation counter to the free market economy? It is a sad commentary that American business cannot succeed without misleading their customers.

Here government regulation would just be requiring the airlines to
clearly state what they are selling so the consumers CAN vote with
their dollars.

I agree! We are discussing the topic "How Many People Would Purchase a Smaller Seat For a Smaller Price" even though most of us (I for one, for sure) have booked flights based mostly on the price. The only ones who don't are the ones who choose a non-cattle class ticket.

I am yet to see a comparison of Airlines A (seat separation 20 inches price $200) vs. Airlines B (seat separation 30 inches price $225). It has always been Airlines A (price $200) vs. Airlines B (price $225).

If I am told that the difference in seat separation is so much for such a small price differential (YMMV), I might be inclined to go with Airlines B. But that information is invariably never available and I choose Airlines A (all else being equal or convenient enough).

Porcupyn

Porqupyn, like Edgar said, Seat Guru.com has all of the info you need to pick the best seat on any specific airline/plane/model. I'm 6'3" so I had to learn to get around the "shrinking seats" a few years ago. I won't book any airline/plane/ or specific seat on a flight without checking my proposed choice on Seat Guru. And I frequently resort to Economy Plus seats as a last resort on "long hauls."

Regarding the new "thin seat" design. I recently flew Alaska Air on a flight to Hawaii in one of those new thin seats; it was awesome! Both my brother and I remarked how comfortable they were. I don't know if the other airlines are using the same design, but some engineer did a heck of a job on the new Alaska Air seats.

I have also flown in the Alaska Air "thin" seats between Tucson and Seattle. When I first saw them, I thought "oh, no!", but they are far more ergonomically correct, at least for me, that the "normal" seats. I am 5'8" with long legs and weight right at 200 pounds. I fit just fine in my "thin" seat. It kills my back to recline any airplane seat, so I didn't test that. I did wonder how the seats would be for a longer flight and am glad to hear that they are good.

I have yet to ride in any "well-padded" seat that had any back support or wasn't broken down with use. An older person I know actually exchanged her 1st class seat for an economy one because the 1st class seat was too big and too smushy (again, no support) for her.

I would be willing to pay more for an ergonomically correct seat like those Alaska ones, and wish I could get a discount for being in a smushy, non-supportive one.