THE END OF SHRINKING PLANE SEATS?

Air passengers fed up with diminishing legroom were given a boost this week after lawmakers in the United States succeeded in pushing for the introduction of a minimum airline seat size.

As part of a funding bill for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which oversees air travel in America, the US House of

Representatives added a proviso to address concerns about ever-shrinking seats.

Over the past couple of decades the gap between plane seats – known as seat “pitch” – has been cut from an industry standard of

34in to, in some cases, fewer than 29in. Average seat width has been trimmed from 19in to 17in.

“Relief could soon be on the way for weary airline passengers facing smaller and smaller seats,” declared Democratic Senator Bill Nelson of Florida.

While any new FAA regulations would only affect US airlines, the move could inspire Europe to follow suit. What the minimum size might be has not yet been established, however.

The battle for a minimum seat size has been fought for years by Flyers Rights. Its president Paul Hudson said: “We call it torture class. For the past 10 to 15 years, seats have been getting smaller as people get larger. Our view is [airlines] have been shrinking seats to get more passengers on a plane to get more revenue. They are also trying to make it so uncomfortable that people will upgrade and pay far higher fares.”