US: Will the FAA come to the rescue of cramped fliers?
The FAA promises it soon will decide whether to step in and determine just how much room you deserve when flying with a commercial airline. It’s all part of what Judge Patricia Millett of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit called “the Case of the Incredible Shrinking Airline Seat.” “As many have no doubt noticed, aircraft seats and the spacing between them have been getting smaller and smaller, while American passengers have been growing in size,” Millett said in a July ruling ordering the FAA to review seat sizes and legroom. The FAA said it will soon announce its decision, but officials declined to specify when. “The FAA is still evaluating potential actions to address the Court’s findings, but expects to issue its decision soon,” the agency said. The case came about because a nonprofit group, the Flyers Rights Education Fund, asked the FAA for rules to prevent the passenger squeeze from continuing. The FAA considers itself a safety agency rather than a creature-comfort agency. If the airlines want to turn you into a pretzel, the agency figures that’s their right so long as you can unwind fast enough to escape if something goes wrong. When the FAA said safety — not seat size — was its priority, Flyers Rights took the agency to court.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2018-02-26/general/us-will-the-faa-come-to-the-rescue-of-cramped-fliers
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US: Will the FAA come to the rescue of cramped fliers?
The FAA promises it soon will decide whether to step in and determine just how much room you deserve when flying with a commercial airline. It’s all part of what Judge Patricia Millett of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit called “the Case of the Incredible Shrinking Airline Seat.” “As many have no doubt noticed, aircraft seats and the spacing between them have been getting smaller and smaller, while American passengers have been growing in size,” Millett said in a July ruling ordering the FAA to review seat sizes and legroom. The FAA said it will soon announce its decision, but officials declined to specify when. “The FAA is still evaluating potential actions to address the Court’s findings, but expects to issue its decision soon,” the agency said. The case came about because a nonprofit group, the Flyers Rights Education Fund, asked the FAA for rules to prevent the passenger squeeze from continuing. The FAA considers itself a safety agency rather than a creature-comfort agency. If the airlines want to turn you into a pretzel, the agency figures that’s their right so long as you can unwind fast enough to escape if something goes wrong. When the FAA said safety — not seat size — was its priority, Flyers Rights took the agency to court.<br/>
