The notice, which will "likely publish next week in the federal register," comes amid a yearslong push by advocates to get the FAA to act on this issue.
Many advocates, however, say the FAA's efforts do not go far enough. They're urging Congress to do more to push the agency to establish seat standards quickly, and insist it's not just evacuation safety that's compromised by tighter cabin configurations, but passenger health and comfort as well.
Why the FAA is required to establish minimum airplane seat dimensions
FlyersRights.org, an airline passenger advocacy group, has been urging the creation of minimum seat dimensions since 2015. That effort got a boost during the 2018 FAA reauthorization when Congress agreed that the agency was not acting urgently enough to address densifying airplane cabins.
"Seats have continued to shrink by some airlines, and people are continuing to get larger," said Paul Hudson, president of FlyersRights.org. "Our estimate is that only 20% of the population can reasonably fit in these seats now. It’s beyond a matter of comfort, or even emergency evacuation, there are serious health and safety issues when you’re put in cramped conditions for hours on end."
Hudson said that tighter seats can increase the risk for serious health issues like deep vein thrombosis, especially on longer flights.
As part of the 2018 legislation, which funded the FAA for five years, Congress set requirements for the agency to study how seat size affects aircraft safety, including evaluating how evacuation testing on airplanes is conducted.
Current standards require evacuations to take 90 seconds or less for all passengers using half of the available emergency exists.
Congressman Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., who serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee said he strongly supported the language in the 2018 reauthorization bill and is frustrated that the FAA hasn't followed the timeline it set out.
Send an email
