There’s nothing like a 10-hour flight with your knees in your face. Though it can feel like that for many of us, for a man who is nearly 7 feet tall, it’s almost literally the case.
Nick Finke, the co-founder of Crush Club and a fitness buff, flew from Houston, Texas, to Amsterdam for a month-long tour. During his flight, he considered paying an additional $9,000 for a first-class seat, just for a little extra leg room. His 11-second video has been watched over 74,000 times.
He’s Got Legs
Finke (@semi_retired_athelete) is, by his own admission, taller than the average traveler. At 6 foot 7 inches, he lives in the realm of professional basketball players. That’s almost a full foot taller than an average American man. Though there are accommodations to be made for the extra-tall on land, in the air, is another matter entirely.
With an average seat pitch (the distance between seats) of 28 to 34 inches, airplane seats are already notoriously uncomfortable. But for a close-to-7-foot-tall human, it becomes a situation where he’s crammed knee-to-back. Like a collar tie in a roof or the keystone in an arch, Finke looks like he’s sitting, architecturally. His knees aren’t almost touching the seat back in front of him; they’re basically French kissing.
His thoughts in the caption are succinct. “SMH I should just have paid the $9k for the bed seats up front,” he wrote.
How To Get More Legroom
The internet is a little divided on whether to celebrate Finke’s European spring or help him find a little more legroom.
“Always ask how much business class is at check in. It’s usually $1000 and worth every damn penny,” advised @captnats.
“At 5’10” I struggle. Good luck to you! Amsterdam will be worth it!” another promised.
Then there’s the path to a potentially free seat adjustment.
“Usually the gate agents will try to help and move you to exit row if you’re nice and/or handsome,” another wrote.
Where Did The Legroom On Flights Go?
According to researcher Erin Bowen, little legroom is not in the best interests of safety and health. Airline layouts must consider, in part, emergency evacuations. And Bowen is concerned that between a population that’s getting larger and seats that are getting smaller, an evacuation would be a scene of chaos and struggle.
As evidence, she cites the events of Oct. 28, 2016, at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. That day, on American Airlines Flight 383, as the plane was speeding down the runway, an engine blew and caught fire. The pilots managed the situation by stopping the takeoff, but passengers panicked anyway.
Video footage from inside the cabin reveals an every-man-for-himself scenario with people crying and swearing, pushing and shoving to get off the aircraft. It is not a calm and orderly scene. Add to that individuals who struggle with mobility, and the plane can take longer to empty than the FAA’s 90-second evacuation standard, increasing the risk for everyone.
The FAA asserts that “there is ‘no evidence’ that smaller seat dimensions ‘hamper the speed of passenger evacuation, or that increasing passenger size creates an evacuation issue.'”
So while there’s no immediate solution for being more comfortable on a flight, maybe take a cue from the co-founder of the Crush Club and plan an epic international adventure.
@semi_retired_athlete Smh I should just paid the $9k for the bed seats up front #travel #flight
BroBible reached out to Finke via email and TikTok direct message. We’ll update this with his best post-flight recovery strategies when he gets back to us.