This article originally appeared on AirlineReporter.com.
I recently saw a comment on an older AirlineReporter.com post; it referenced a bad experience with a seat being too small. The person posed the following: “If planes were just one foot wider, seats could be as wide as first class. Would that kill Boeing or Airbus?”
I have seen this question come up quite a bit. Sure, for some of you, the answer to this might be pretty obvious. However, I don’t think that the majority of passengers really understand why this seemingly-simple change of adding more room to a plane is not simple at all. And in the end, it is not what passengers really want anyhow.
The data tells us that humans just keep getting bigger – particularly Americans. This is not only from poor diet and lack of exercise, but just how we have evolved as a species. We have easier access to food and health care, and as a result are living longer, which in some way connects to us getting taller and wider.
At the same time, airlines are looking to cram as many people into a fuselage as possible in order to maximize efficiency, reduce costs, and maybe squeeze out a profit every quarter or so. These two concepts together certainly have caused passengers to become upset, but are the airlines fully to blame? I think not. I think the majority of the blame lies in the demands of many passengers; they want the cheapest prices possible.
Click here to read the rest of this article at AirlineReporter.com.