Traveler's Edition
Leg room on flights is often a sensitive subject for air travelers, most of whom will tell you they wish they had more – us included! Now, increased leg room could become a legal requirement.
A new bill has been presented to congress entitled the Seat Eress in Air Travel Act (SEAT), which suggests that a minimum distance between rows of seats on board be introduced, as well as a minimum seatwidth. The bill would effectively require the Federal Aviation Administration to force an increase in seat widths which today are often narrower than ever, while leg room can feel limited at the best of times.
There are a number of safety factors which airlines must currently meet when it comes to seat size and leg room: most importantly, that the aircraft can be evacuated in a maximum of 90 seconds. In general, airlines can squeeze all the seats they want onto an aircraft as long as these safety restrictions are adhered to.
