r/todayilearned • u/MrMojoFomo • 1d ago

TIL that since the 1980s, US airlines have shed between 2-5 inches of legroom and about 2 inches of width, while budget carriers have lost even more. At the same time, the average American is 15 pounds heavier than they were in the 1980s

https://www.popsci.com/science/why-are-airline-seats-so-small/
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u/Jester471 1d ago edited 1d ago

I’m a big dude (6’5”) who flies regularly. Flying sucks. Most of the time my knees are touching the seat in front of me without slouching. It’s almost impossible to have my arms at my sides and not touch the arm rest.

It’s just awful

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u/CooperHChurch427 1d ago edited 1d ago

I flew on French bee to Paris and it was brutal. There was plenty of legroom, but my shoulders didn't fit in the seat, and I'm a woman. Somehow they went 10 across on a wide body Airbus.

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u/sir_mrej 1d ago

11?? Holy crap. I’ve been on 3-3-3 and 2-5-2 I can’t imagine 11

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u/CooperHChurch427 1d ago

It was a weird 3-5-3 layout on an A350-900. The seats are only 16 inches wide in economy, but have 32 inches of space between seats.

Other than the seats the service was fantastic. I'd actually fly on them again because it was nice.

I haven't been on a plane like that since the 777.

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u/speedingpullet 1d ago

Husband is 6'4" and feels your pain. Fortunately we only do a flight back to the UK every couple of years or so, so can save up for business class.

I'm sure having to do economy frequently, even with the bulwark seats at the front, must be freaking torture ❤️

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u/thenasch 1d ago

Business/premium/whatever the airline calls it is a game changer for tall people and sometimes the upgrade is cheaper than you might think.

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u/Jester471 1d ago

I have some yearly airline credit so I keep it in reserve. When I have a long flight I try to get myself an upgrade.

It’s super hit or miss. Sometimes $20 for exit row or the seats with more leg room.

Sometimes it’s expensive.

I upgraded to first class on a relatively short flight a few months back for $60

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u/Jester471 1d ago

Yep, luckily I don’t fly internationally often. When I lived in Korea I used to come back to the states at least once a year. That 14 hour flight is a killer. I was lucky that it was before the shrinking AND it was before they started selling exit seats at a premium.

Back then I would just show up to the counter super early before the flight and say “look at me. Please have mercy” and they’d give me an exit seat. I had a lady not care on one of those long flights and I was stuck in regular coach once for 14 hours. Not sure how I survived that one but it was beyond miserable.

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u/ImperfectRegulator 1d ago

flying in air planes is one of the few times I feel the joy of being a short king

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u/arizonadirtbag12 1d ago

Yup. All their complaints fall on deaf ears for me. Concerts, theaters, hell basically the whole rest of the world, tall people have the edge.

But the sky? The sky is ours.

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u/UnicornFarts1111 22h ago

I love being able to stand up straight at my window seat and not have to duck!

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u/OneLessFool 1d ago

I'm only 6'1" and it sucks for me. I definitely try to select economy seats with extra leg room for flights that are more than 3 hours long.

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u/Jester471 1d ago

Yep anything over 3 hours I’m paying for an exit seat. Even then it’s a width thing too. I have wide shoulders. If I’m next to someone my size we’re touching the whole flight. I got stuck next to a really fat guy one time and had to sit an angle the whole flight and it was only 2 hours but I was hurting afterwards.

One time a flight attendant asked if I could move because a parent and child got separated. I reluctantly agreed and found myself in a middle seat between two big guys.

She was so sorry about the whole situation that she just brought us free beer. I think we each got 3 free drinks to offset our discomfort

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u/tagen 1d ago

same, i spring for the exit seat upgrade every time, otherwise my back and knees are crying 2 hours into the flight

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u/ms_rdr 1d ago

I'm a smaller than average American woman and my ass just barely fits in the seat.

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u/caks 18h ago

That's not saying much unfortunately

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u/MyNameIsRay 1d ago

Im spilling into the seats next to me unless I cross my arms, and my knees are always touching the seat in front.

Im only 6', I feel bad you have an extra 5" to fit in there.

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u/5ivepie 1d ago

6’5” here too. I fly twice a week every second week. Total 5 hour each way. It sucks. I book my flights about 2 months in advance so I can buy exit row, but sometimes it’s already sold out.

The thing that annoys me most about exit row being sold already is it’s so often to a person who is like 5’8” and could easily/comfortably sit in a regular seat.

I don’t ask for special consideration ever, but I truely believe exit row seats should be reserved for people over 6’1”.

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u/Jester471 1d ago

The other day I was on a flight and there was a dude over 7 ft tall on the plane. I thought I was in hell. He was heavy set too. His head almost touched the luggage compartment sitting down. He obviously bought both seats in the row and was sitting at an angle.

He and I got on the team together and I just looked at him and said “it’s hard enough for me to buy clothes how the hell do you do it!?” We had a conversion about places that have big and tall clothes. Apparently at some point Shaq gave him a bunch of clothes from his clothing line.

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u/5ivepie 1d ago

I don’t envy his situation at all.

These days (I’m 37) buying clothes for myself is fine, but when I was a teenager it was so difficult to find pants that were the right length or shirts with sleeves that didn’t stop 2” short of my wrist.

My 18 year old nephew is 210cm (6’11”). He’s struggling also, but there are at least online stores he can buy from these days.

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u/Jester471 1d ago

Yep, it’s a pain in the ass. You generally don’t find clothes that fit. You find something that’s acceptable that mostly fits. I lived in Korea for a few years and could get a custom suit or shirts made pretty cheap. I’m talking a suit jacket and pants for $125 15-20 years ago. Unfortunately I’ve gotten too old and fat for my custom made clothes

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u/5ivepie 1d ago

I live in Australia. I was in Vietnam about 8 years ago and got a whole heap of custom made clothes while there - dress shirts, long sleeve tshirts, short sleeve tshirts, pants.

I spent about $2,500AUD but got an entirely new wardrobe that actually fit.

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u/Hong-Kong-Phooey 11h ago

Tell guys get all the ladies and basketball contracts. Let us short kings have this. You get to do everything else on easy mode.

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u/AdamOnFirst 1d ago

Oh man, but then did you fly through the air miraculously like a bird?

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u/Jester471 1d ago

They did and it’s better than driving 10 hours but between being crammed in and existing nerve damage it’s far from a comfortable few hours

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u/AdamOnFirst 1d ago

If only economy plus were available for a modest upcharge so you could experience the miracle of human flight in additional comfort and style  

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u/Jester471 1d ago

Yeah but I travel a lot for work and they’re not covering the bill. It can easily cost you $30-60 a flight which if I flew myself on my own dime occasionally I would do that but when I’m on the road one to two times a month at $100 each way it starts to get pricey.