FAA dismisses safety fears over ‘incredible shrinking airline seat’
Airlines have dodged a bullet again with the Federal Aviation Administration declining to take any action against ‘the incredible shrinking airline seat’.
In response to a court order the FAA ‘has no evidence that there is an immediate safety issue necessitating rule-making at this time’.
In a letter to consumer group Flyers Rights, it said reduced leg room doesn’t impact emergency evacuations.
Flyers Rights had sued alleging that cramming in more seats hinders safe evacuations, but the FAA says exit doors are the main bottleneck to smooth deplanements during emergencies.
Last year a court ordered the FAA to undertake a ‘properly reasoned disposition’ of safety issues relating to seat pitch.
"The FAA says that it has seen no evidence that passenger size, age or physical capacity effects evacuation time because it refuses to do testing that actually reflects the current passenger population and shrunken seats and aisle widths in any realistic way," said Flyers Rights President Paul Hudson.
Aircraft manufacturers have to show a full plane of passengers can safely evacuate within 90 seconds before a new jet model is approved.
However the agency has not set specific minimum seat pitch regulations.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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