For the third time in nine days, a fight over reclining seats caused a commercial airline flight to be diverted.The "pitch", the distance between the seat rows, has steadily declined over the years. There was a time, Gentle Reader, when you could actually stretch out your legs in a coach class seat and barely touch the seat in front of you. If you had the window seat, you could get up and go to the can without making the passenger next to you move from his/her seat.
This time, a Delta Air Lines flight from New York’s LaGuardia Airport to West Palm Beach, Fla., made an unexpected stop in Jacksonville on Monday night after a passenger became irate when the woman seated in front of her reclined.
But the fucking airlines moved the rows closer and closer and the future isn't looking so good.
If you jam critters too close together, bad shit happens. There's gotta be enough research to support that. Which is probably why the airlines have stopped squawking about the TSA, they need the TSA to ensure the passengers are fully disarmed before cramming 60 of them into the flying version of a "40 or 8".
another fine mess that deregulation has given us, GREED
ReplyDeleteBe glad they haven't gone to laying down and in a honeycomb shaped pod. I'm sure there are even worse ways for an airline to package it's "product".
ReplyDeletew3ski
This is one of the reason I refuse to fly. The other one is TSA.
ReplyDeleteHave been flying on airlines since 1966 and if anybody thinks that deregulation has made the experience easier or more comfortable better share whatever substance they are using.
ReplyDeleteFrom this morning's WaPo:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/business/the-color-of-money-the-great-airliner-recliner-debate/2014/09/02/9ccb74e4-32d5-11e4-a723-fa3895a25d02_story.html
The concept of selling the fore-aft space twice is interesting.
Excellent post. Referring to this post, I've amplified on the greed, and listed the names of the Congress members directly responsible on my own blog, because that will do a lot of good. Hah!
ReplyDeleteYours most crankily,
The New York Crank
The last time I had enough leg room was 20 years ago on a 727. I had the window seat in the emergency exit row and there was actually enough room in the row to easily get to the exit.
ReplyDelete