Safety risk of shrinking airline seats questioned
(From last month, but could not find it on these pages...)
The shrinking space on airplanes is surely uncomfortable, but it might also be dangerous for passengers' health and safety. Planes are filled with more passengers than ever before. Fliers are older and heavier. Flight attendants warn about an increase in air rage, and experts question if having rows of seats packed closer together might make it harder for passengers to evacuate after a crash.
A consumer advisory group set up by the Department of Transportation dove into all those issues Tuesday at a public hearing as part of its role to make non-binding suggestions to government regulators.
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Unfortunately, the days of the empty middle seat are a thing of the past," said Julie Frederick, a representative for the American Airlines flight attendants union. Following the implementation of checked-bag fees in 2008, Frederick said, more and more passengers are carrying on bags, fighting for overhead bin space. That anger carries over through the flight as passengers bump elbows on armrests and bang their knees against tray tables. She said there are more cases of air rage, many which go unreported.
Questions were also raised if the increased density of seats means passengers won't be able to evacuate fast enough after a crash.
The Federal Aviation Administration runs various tests including how fast passengers can evacuate a plane and how fast they can put on a life preserver. But Cynthia Corbertt, a human factors researcher with the FAA, testified that it conducts those tests using planes with 31 inches between each row of seats. Many passenger jets today have less legroom. For instance, United Airlines has 30 inches of room, known as pitch, on some jets; Spirit Airlines offers 28 inches.
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Before any new jet is allowed to fly, the manufacturer must prove that everybody can evacuate in 90 seconds with half of the exits blocked. Carry-on baggage is strewn throughout the cabin, and the test is conducted in night-like conditions. However, the cabin is not filled with smoke, and all of the passengers are physically fit, dressed in athletic clothing and know that an evacuation is coming.
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On long flights, there is another risk for fliers: deep vein thrombosis, where a blood clot forms, typically in a leg vein. If that clot gets lose and travels into the lungs, it can cause a blockage. Nimia L. Reyes, a medical officer with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that seat size isn't necessarily a factor in people developing the clots or not. The real issue, she said, was how able passengers are to get up, walk around and stretch. Those in window seats have twice the risk of getting deep vein thrombosis than those on the aisle seats.
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Charlie Leocha, the consumer representative on the committee, said the government sets standards for the conditions for dogs flying as cargo. "In a world where animals have more rights to space and food than humans," Leocha said, "it is time that the DOT and FAA take a stand for humane treatment of passengers."
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-airline-seat-risks-20150414-story.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
I'm short (5'1"
and even for my height have short legs. My feet don't quite touch the floor of the plane, and the particular angle my knees are at is very uncomfortable for me. I realize that very tall people have a different problem with fitting into the space.
...for me, so I make a point of going to the restroom just for the walk. (I also have a pair of support stockings I use sorely for flying.) A few years ago I had a stewardess tell me I should just stay in my seat and I gave her a three word answer: "Deep vein thrombosis."
I understand the overcrowding is a problem for flight attendants too, but at this point in time absolutely no one is going to take care of my health and well being but myself.
Where is our Passengers' Bill of Rights? 
