Passengers Flying Coach Fight for Leg Room GeoBeats News
go to original December 29, 2013

Flying coach can be a bruising experience these days. (GeoBeatsNews)

If you've flown in economy class or coach seating on an airplane recently you may have noticed a small change in how much room your seat has and the effect that has on the traveling experience.

According to one report, in the past 20 years, the space between seats has decreased by 10 percent.

This has caused passengers to get physical about protecting their personal space during flight, with some complaining to flight attendants, or pushing and kneeing the seat in front of them.

Tom Plant, the general manager for seating products at B/E Aerospace, one of the top airplane seat makers is quoted as saying: "In today's environment, the goal is to fit as many seats in the cabin as possible. We would all like more space on an aircraft, but we all like a competitive ticket price."

The problem of cramped space in coach has gotten so bad that aircraft manufacturing company Airbus has issued a statement suggesting that airlines increase the width of economy class seats from 17 to 18 inches.

Airbus criticized airline companies for not increasing the size of their seats even though research has shown that the average passengers is larger and flight times between destinations are longer with the expansion of airline service.

Related: On Jammed Jets, Sardines Turn on One Another at The New York Times

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!