Flyersrights.org, a passenger rights groups, emerged from a court on Friday with a grin. A judge had just handed them at least a partial victory in their effort to prohibit airlines from further shrinking seats.
No, airlines will not be forced to increase seat pitch and seat width, at least not right now. Instead, the ruling forces the FAA to conduct new safety tests to ensure that passengers can rapidly evacuate in case of emergency.
When flyersrights.org (which also was a leader in the tarmac delay regulation) filed suit it in 2015, it alleged that shrinking seat pitch plus the growing girth of Americans created a dangerous combination. The FAA rebuffed, with the Obama Administration arguing that numerous safety tests demonstrated passengers can still escape quickly during an emergency.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia questioned the testing, stating some were outdated and other referenced but not included on the record. In requiring new tests, the court does not preclude the FAA from submitting the new tests then again closing the door on any further seat pitch/width regulatory discussion. Instead, it simply requires more clarity behind its decision making.
Why You Should Be Opposed to Regulating Seat Size
It sounds nice on the surface, right? More legroom for everyone!
But Gary lays out the practical results of this move–
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They would effectively outlaw business models like Spirit’s, Frontier’s, and Allegiant’s. These airlines drive down pricing that legacy carriers have to match.
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Without ultra low cost carriers many people wouldn’t be able to afford to fly. Some blog readers, and I, would still fly. This redistributes from the poorest Americans to those better off.
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And it substitutes driving for flying which is less safe, a phenomenon known as statistical murder.
I deem this an air-tight argument, because if Spirit and Frontier are forced to retrofit their fleet with new seats and more legroom, they will close shop or hemorrhage money, and they won’t do the latter. Want more legroom and a wider seat? You can pay for it, even on Spirit. It is still cheaper than flying used to be.
And that truly is the point. We are in the golden age of airfare affordability and we must give LCCs much of credit for making flying affordable to the masses, including myself. Take away tight seat pitch and you close the door on millions to travel.
What do you think? Should federal law mandate minimum seat pitch and seat width?
Why make any laws if it lowers pricing? Let’s get rid of health regulations too! Without regulations, we are at a race to the minimum possible for seats. The governments job is to ensure safe operation, and this lawsuit forces them to do so.
If the government forces Frontier, Spirit, and Allegiant out of business to “protect” customers it will do far more harm than help. Every regulation is a cost/benefit analysis and sometimes more regulation is for the best…like requiring fee disclosure and all-in pricing for U.S. airlines or even EU260. But LCCs give consumers choice and the idea that tighter seat pitch makes planes dangerous has been shown to be demonstrably false.
For every law enacted, the government took at least 1 (one) civil right from the citizen.
Matt, a question. You mentioned, “The FAA rebuffed, with the Obama Administration…”
Does that mean The FAA and Obama Administration are different party in the said case? Or do you imply that since the policy maker now is different administration (Trump) there’s a possibility they have different opinion/views on the said argument/case?
Another question, with your experience and background, is the said ruling going to have significant impact, or there’s a long way to go, or you have another opinion?
Thank you in advance
As I stated on Gary’s thread, the live tests for evacuation is no longer done as it’s considered too dangerous. Computer simulations are used. Also, the court stated that the faa must state why the request is denied, not just deny it. They did NOT require a change in law.
Also, by this reasoning, if safety standards force a car company out of business, we are forcing people to walk? The argument for less regulation is just silly.
I actually find Spirit seats better for leg room than basic legacy airline seats, since they don’t recline or have seat-back pockets.