Why airlines shrink seats and charge for legroom

HostI was on a flight last week and I could barely open my laptop because the person in front of me leaned back just an inch. It feels like every time I fly, the space between my knees and the seat ahead gets a little bit tighter, while the price for a tiny bit of extra room goes up.

HostWhy did airlines decide that making us this cramped was the best way to run a business?

GuestIt really comes down to a shift in how airlines think about what they're selling you. A few decades ago, when you bought a ticket, you were buying a whole experience. The food, the bags, and a decent amount of legroom were all baked into one price. But now, they see the flight as a set of separate pieces. They want to offer the lowest price possible to show up at the top of travel websites. To do that, they have to pack as many people as they can onto the plane. If they can squeeze in two or three more rows of seats, they can lower the price of every seat just enough to beat the guy next door. But to get those extra rows, they have to steal an inch here and an inch there from everyone on board.

HostBut it's not just an inch or two anymore. Some of these seats feel like they were made for kids. Is there a point where they just can't go any smaller?

GuestThere's a floor, but we're getting very close to it. If you look back at the late nineteen seventies, the gap between the back of your seat and the back of the seat in front of you was usually around thirty five inches. That's what people in the trade call the pitch. Today, on some of the budget airlines, that gap has shrunk to twenty eight inches. That's a huge loss of space. And they're not just moving the rows closer together. They're making the seats thinner too. They use these slim seats with less foam padding and a hard back. They tell you it's more high tech and gives you more knee room, but most people just find them harder and less comfy.

HostWait, so they're taking away the padding and moving the rows closer? That sounds like a double hit to the person sitting there. Does the government not have rules about how much space a human being needs?

GuestThis is where things get tricky. For a long time, the groups that watch over flying only cared about one thing when it came to seat size: can you get out of the plane in an emergency? They have rules that say everyone has to be able to leave the plane in ninety seconds or less if there's a fire or a crash. As long as the airline can prove people can still climb out of those tight rows quickly, the government stays out of it. People have tried to sue or get new laws passed by saying these small seats are a health risk, like for leg cramps or blood clots, but so far the courts and the big agencies have said that comfort isn't their job. They leave that to the market.

HostBut the market seems to be telling them we hate it, yet we keep buying the tickets. Is it just that we care about a low price more than our own knees?

GuestMostly, yes. Most of us will pick the flight that's fifty dollars cheaper even if we know it'll be less comfy. The airlines know this, so they created something called basic economy. They make the base experience pretty bad on purpose. They take away your right to pick a seat or bring a big bag. Then, they show you a map of the plane with a few seats that have three extra inches of legroom. Since you're already feeling cramped and stressed, you're much more likely to pay an extra forty or eighty dollars to get back the space you used to have for free. It's a very clever way to make more money. They're not really selling you legroom. They're selling you a way out of the misery they created.

HostThat feels a bit mean, like they're holding our legs for ransom. But if it's all about the money, does it actually help the airline that much to pack us in like that?

GuestIt makes a massive difference to their bottom line. Think about the fuel. A plane uses a huge amount of gas just to get off the ground. If you have a plane that can hold one hundred and fifty people, but you find a way to fit one hundred and sixty, you're spreading the cost of that fuel across more tickets. Plus, the newer, thinner seats are lighter. Every pound you take off the weight of the chair is a pound you don't have to pay to fly through the air. Over thousands of flights a year, those small changes add up to hundreds of millions of dollars in savings.

HostI guess I can see the math, but it still feels like we're losing the human side of travel. If they keep pushing this, do you think we'll ever see a day where we're basically standing up?

GuestProbably not standing, because you still need to be strapped in for safety during bumps in the air. But companies are already showing off designs for upright seats where you sort of perch on a high stool with your legs tucked under you. Most experts think that's too far for the big airlines, but for a one hour flight, who knows? The real question is whether people will reach a breaking point where they simply stop flying because the pain isn't worth the price. But so far, the planes are fuller than they have ever been.

HostThe math shows that as long as we keep picking the cheapest ticket on the screen, the rows will likely keep moving closer together.

GuestPassengers are essentially voting for smaller seats every time they click the lowest price, even if their knees regret it the moment they sit down.

HostThose extra rows turn a flight into a math problem where the goal is to see how little we'll put up with for a cheaper way to get from here to there.