Seat pitch has actually always been the same on nearly every airline i can think of since there conception

Why do they seem so much smaller now then ? Surely people cant be imagining the discomfort they are sitting in and why is there often talk about how many more seats there are on a plane compard to 30 years ago ? and why the need for extra leg room seats i dont remember them being needed years ago as you used to get as reasonable amount of legroom.

doe,

I would agree with BEfreeTODAY, they haven't got any smaller for the most part with some airlines actually increasing seat pitch. Seat design has also improved giving more room for the same seat pitch on some aircraft. If you fly mainly short haul charter, you may not have seen the improvements that some airlines have introduced. Extra legrom seats aren't 'needed', they've always been there with seats being adjacent to doors although some airlines have increased the number of extra legroom seats or introduced premium economy / economy plus as the market demands.

Darren

The seat pitch of many airlines in economy is smaller than it used to be,in the late 50s early 60s when I first started flying the average seat pitch in most major airlines was around 34inches. BA's VC 10 had really comfortable seats with a generous 34" pitch, compare that with their 747's that they use for long haul flights today the seats have a meagre 30-31" pitch, it makes for very uncomfortable travel for anyone of an average or taller size. Most other carriers have reduced their seat pitch over the years, the lure of making more money by installing more seats even though detremental to the passengers comfort has been too tempting to turn down.
Most major airlines have cramped seating in economy very few have 33-34"seats, Malaysia, Thai and Air New Zealand have a reasonably decent pitch in economy but I believe even Air NZ have recently reduced the pitch in their latest planes.

I can't remember that far back Judith But I've seen programmes on how air travel use to be , and it was also very much exclusive as well , the pitch is now a bit smaller but the cost is more affordable now to a larger section of society ? If you took the price of a fare back then and put it into "today's money" would so many of us be able to fly to destinations 2 hours away let alone long haul ?
I suppose I'm lucky in that I'm just over 5 ft 8 and leg room is not too much of an issue , but I do like a bit more personal space on longer flights because of boredom and becoming fidgety .

Of course not, airline travel was much more exclusive and expensive then, very few budget airlines in existence, though package holidays did start to take off big time in the 1960's and people started to fly to destinations on the continent that previously could only have been reached by spending hours driving or on a coach or even a train..The prices were nowhere near the rock bottom prices that are available for travel especially short haul these days and most people only went away once each year. Funnily enough back then the difference between first class and economy travel wasn't as large as it is now.
But that doesn't take away from my belief that seat pitch has got smaller which can make for very uncomfortable travel.

I don't disagree with your point, it's just that with more advancements and competition you would think that we all benefit from more room and comfort and yet we get less to some degree . It's like a race to the bottom with price being the most important factor. But to be fair my last flight to Tenerife cost £100 pp that's 4000 miles approx return , I'd only get 400 miles for £100 of petrol in my car . I wonder what air travel will be like in 40 to 50 years time , when you think of the changes over the last 40 to 50 ?

Dazbo HT Mod wrote:

doe,

I would agree with BEfreeTODAY, they haven't got any smaller for the most part with some airlines actually increasing seat pitch. Seat design has also improved giving more room for the same seat pitch on some aircraft. If you fly mainly short haul charter, you may not have seen the improvements that some airlines have introduced. Extra legroom seats aren't 'needed', they've always been there with seats being adjacent to doors although some airlines have increased the number of extra legroom seats or introduced premium economy / economy plus as the market demands.

Darren

Perhaps my time frames are not good, but i remember travelling on Air France to Lyons in economy in comfort and with food served on china plates in the 70 ties and I certainly feel it was many years before we got to the point where pulling down the tray was impossible to do, if the person in front had reclined there seat. I see larger people who cannot actually get their trays down. So are we saying that we are travelling in the same comfort of 30 to 40 years ago ? I don't think so.

Why are all the Companys now worried about folk sustaining a DVT from being in a position where they can virtually not move their feet and legs for the duration of a flight unless they get up and walk down the aisle (getting in the way of the poor staff trying to do their jobs) ? That didn't appear to be a consideration years ago and I can't believe it is just that people are more litigious as at the end of the day you can't be litigious if there is nothing to be so about.

Well in my case, I have less room on flights becuase I am a little wider than I used to be

As I am not that tall, I generally do not have that much discomfort with leg space on a short haul flight..but I do tend to get restless a couple of hours in anyway out of sheer boredom...then i find the space or lack of it starts to get to me..and for many years I travelled with Rob who is a hulking great 6ft 4 burly lorry driver who alwasy struggled with leg room and space and tended to invade mine without intending to, leaving me with even less room! Wherever possible, we used to book extra legroom, purely coz I could not be doing with him moaning at me for 5 or 6 hours on a flight about how cramped up he is!

People who recline thier seats back also get on my nerves...even more so if they dont even have the courtesy to ask you if you mind thier chair in your face!

Armrest hoggers! Its especially annoying if you are in a middle seat and the ones at either side have an armrest all to themselves.

good one Fiona..arm rests too. Just becuase I am little does not mean that I dont need an arm rest too!

Oh and when you are on the aisle seat and someone in either of the other 2 seats is up and down every 2 minutes to either the loo or to go and talk to friends elsewhere on the plane..meaning that I have to get up and down every 2 minutes..that irritates the snot out of me....as does people that use cutting through your seats as a short cut to the loos.

We had that on a flight back to manchester from Egypt one time..and most people did not even bother to say excuse me or they just kicked you, trod on you, didn't bat an eyelid about disturbing you and then had the cheek to look at you, still sat in your seat as if you had done something wrong. On that same flight, a few people had picked up food poisoning and I had the delights of a guy throwing up into a carrier bag almost next to me while I was trying to eat my dinner....not nice...

Got a few.

Mainly the amount of legroom. I had forgotten how little room there was on a Thomson shorthaul charter until we booked a last minute break to Kos this year. After approx an hour of the flight out my leg had swollen rock hard, as I was unable to stretch or straighten my legs. Even the low costs have more room.

Daytime flights that the crew insist in turning into the equivalent of night time flights, by having everyone pull down the blinds. Oo and lets turn up the heat, that will make everyone sleepy and less trouble.

Oh not actually the flight but baggage reclaim afterwards where people all crush around the belt ensuring nobody can see if their bags coming. Just keep a step or two back, makes it easier for everyone.

My niggle is the big group who think they own the flight "Right we're here folks let the fun start"

Well touch wood I have not encountered annoyances for the past few years on a flight (I hope this continues in 2 weeks time when I go back to Cuba!)

I'd say people who insist on reclining the whole flight (before the seatbelt sign goes off) then not moving it up for meals (I get that it can go down for the other 80% of the flight but it's so hard to eat a meal when I'm looking right at dandruff!)

People walking round the plane without shoes! Disgusting!

People who monopolise the cabin crew, taking their drinks over the the galley and look for a good old chinwag... let them do their job and you're not THAT interesting!

People who leave the toilet a mess!

People who will not try to control their kids. I'm patient with children but not when you're ignoring them and their excited/irritated behaviour, most of the time the fault for poor behaviour is the parents!

People who will not stand behind the yellow line at baggage reclaim! (a major one of mine) I'm a young woman and I travel alone with my elderly mother, getting both cases off at the same time is hard enough without people refusing to move out of my way! As soon as I have my case I will go away! Until I get my case I will stand behind the line, don't stand in front of me though! Just because I'm a woman does not mean that I am just standing there to look at people's suitcases

People who blame everything on the cabin crew! They do a good job, it's not their fault you didn't pre book your seats and that you're not sitting next to your partner!

And breathe!

my main hates about flying are small uncomfortable seats,medioca food,bad movies,boredom on long flights,parents who cant control their kids and noisy drunken people who have no respect of other passengers.
personally i would ban all alcohol on planes and airports.

Well my main beef is when you turn up expecting a Monarch flight and the plane is swithched to some Serbian crewed thing and the plane is called Airsure, then half way through the flight the captain 'who can't speak much English' all of a sudden comes on the tanoy and says these exact words, "mayday, mayday, emergency decent" We then hear nothing for a good ten minutes as the plane loses altitude and we eventually land somewhere in France where we spend the next 7 hours or so!. Now I know he landed the Plane safe but it shook the life out of everyone on board and even now none of us know what the hell went on! . This was last tuesday by the way! I just wish Monarch or whoever would think twice before renting other Planes and crews when the safety of their passengers should come first!!! Anyway I wonder who will fly us home!

That sounds scary!!

Doesn't exactly fill you full of confidence

Chivas69,

It was a cabin presurisation problem wasn't it? Nothing too major but an emergency desent was required. Airsure have a good safety record with the crew doing exactly what they needed to in that situation, although communication with the passengers sounds like it could have been better.

Darren