New Bill Would Ban Airlines From Shrinking Seats And Eliminate Some Of The Most Annoying Aspects Of Traveling

iStockphoto

Airlines haven’t been shy in committing humans right violations to maximize profits.

Italian company Aviointeriors introduced the Skyrider 2.0 “saddle seat” at the Aircraft Interiors Expo 2018, which forces passengers to essentially go the entire flight in the wall sit position. Last year, American Airlines announced it was decreasing  the front-to-back space between some of its economy class seats by another two inches in a mission to add more seats on its coming Boeing 737 Max jetliners. And don’t forget about airlines beginning to do away with the seatback in-flight entertainment screens to cut costs and reduce bulk and weight to the seats, forgoing the only remaining luxury in the skies!

It’s gotten so out of control that the government Washington lawmakers recently ordered the FAA to set a minimum size for airline seats. According to the New York Post, the vote, 398-23, gives regulators one year to come up with a viable plan that must also address minimum distances between rows.

Tennessee Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen said the problem is more than just a comfort issue, it’s a safety one too.

“People are getting larger, the seats are getting smaller, and it’s just obvious that you can’t evacuate the planes in the requisite time.”

The House bill will now be passed along to the Senate and will include banning airlines from kicking off passengers in the case of overbooking, forbidding putting an animal in an overhead bin, mandating airlines to address whether passengers will receive hotel rooms, meals or seats on another carrier in the case of delays or cancelations, prohibiting passengers from making cell phone calls in-flight, and enforcing the ‘service animal’ loophole many passengers expose.

One thing that isn’t on the bill, unfortunately, is restrictions of baggage fees. Oh, they’re actually on the rise? Well, fuck. Baby steps, I guess.

At least we’ll likely never have to perch in one of these torture traps:

[h/t New York Post]