AIBU to think airline seats no longer fit average-sized adults?

I was a size 20 when I flew Jet2 in the middle seat last year and was very comfortable. That said I do think the seats are getting smaller.

the extra wide arms in the leg room seats are for the tray tables.

Just back from a Jet2 holiday - flight was 4 hours and the seats were fine.

im 5’4 and a size 14 - had an aisle seat. Quite a big man in the middle seat, and his smaller wife by the window.

i thought the seats were quite roomy. Could have been a different plane though - and middle seats are horrible so you have my sympathy.

We booked an extra legroom seat on a Dreamliner on the way home from our last holiday, they were front row and had boxy chunky arms and dh was so uncomfortable we ended up swapping with the people behind us before we’d even taken off. The were indeed extra legroom but the space within the seat itself was smaller than normal because of these weird extra wide arms between the seats! He is overweight but not obese- it was weird!

I flew Air Canada in December after my last few flights being Ryanair and I was very pleasantly surprised at how much more room there was. I'm 5'8", 74kg and I can sit ok in a Ryanair seat, but it was lovely having more space.

It’s dreadful - embarrassing for some people and irritating for others.

I once flew to Australia between a father and daughter. I suspect they had booked the window and aisle seat in the hope the middle would remain vacant. They were both very obese. They needed seatbelt extenders. The flight was full and I couldn’t move seats. It was a very long flight and I spent as much time as I could walking up and down the plane because they were pressing against bother sides of my body.

While I don’t blame them- and I know this can be very embarrassing for people- I paid the same as they did yet, I couldn’t fit in my seat because they took up so much of it.

Jet2 seats are absolutely fine and quite spacious compared with Ryanair. DP is very broad shouldered and muscular and we always take window (him) and middle (me) because that means he has a bit more room, which he does need, but we have plenty of room to sit both properly against the back rest. I have plenty of space in the middle seat even though I'm tall and a size 16 so far from tiny.

As a matter of interest I just consulted Google and it would seem that
the airlines with the smallest seat widths are British Airways, Jet2, KLM, Norwegian, Ryanair, Tui and Aer Lingus, which are all tied with 17 inches. Meanwhile, Vueling is in the middle with 17.5 inches.

They all advocate buying an extra seat if you're overweight, but of course not many people want to accept that they're fat enough that they actually NEED two seats, and also don't want to spend the extra money.

Well no because many slim people people find them uncomfortable and cramped

I’m 5’1 and 55kg - so short and a healthy weight. I find short haul flights really cramped, long haul are fine although I always go for an aisle seat as my bladder can’t cope with getting trapped.

That's right. Some airlines are reducing space in economy seats, to try to "encourage" passengers into paying more for an economy-plus seat with slightly more legroom. Good WSJ article on this but it's behind a pay wall. This gives the gist and a link to the article. It's disgusting because the cramped conditions are really uncomfortable and can cause problems.

www.google.com/search?q=wsj+econom6+airline+legroom&oq=wsj+econom6+airline+legroom&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIJCAEQIRgKGKABMgkIAhAhGAoYoAEyBwgDECEYnwUyBwgEECEYnwUyBwgFECEYnwUyBwgGECEYnwUyBwgHECEYnwUyBwgIECEYnwUyBwgJECEYnwUyBwgKECEYnwXSAQkxNDg4NmowajeoAhSwAgHxBaTLSolT_Wyl8QWky0qJU_1spQ&client=ms-android-samsung-ss&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#lfId=ChxjMe

Yes they are.

Which is why they're designed with a theoretical, average, healthy weight person in mind.

The fact the average person is actually now overweight isn't factored in.

HTH.

My DH is 6'5 and manages. He'd be more comfortable in an extra leg room seat for sure though.

In my mind, the seat size and leg room are two different things. Obviously lots will disagree with that.

Lots of people are typically using this as a dig at overweight people...all the predictable comments that we have lost sight of what a healthy weight is...blah blah blah

The seats are tiny on budget short haul flights...even for slim/thin people. Just because you can fit in it doesn't mean it's comfortable or big enough.

We’re a family of 7 so DH draws the short straw when we fly and has to sit with strangers. Last summer he sat beside an obese woman who needed the seatbelt extender. He was squished as hell and looked uncomfortable. I think obese people should book two seats. I should also say I fit in the regular seats just fine as a regular sized 5 ft 7 woman. My DS is 6 ft 2 and he fits fine too.

I think your problem was being in the middle seat. I normally like an aisle seat and have plenty of room - but sometimes I end up in the middle and it’s not so comfortable. We’ve been lucky a couple of times recently and there has been no third person in our row.

The space is not big enough if you need to angle your legs. My husband has to book an aisle seat or extra leg room due to his height. Planes squeeze in as many seats as they can.

I think Jet2 is fine. My local bus company on the other hand... Not enough room for shoulders rather than arses.

People are getting fatter, that’s the problem.

The size of the seat and leg room are two different things in my mind.

I do the same thing on most public transport buses and trains and I don't hear people complaining about the size of those seats.

I am a fairly normal weight and size, I weigh 74kg. I think every passenger should be asked to step on a set of scales with all their luggage.If the total is over 95kg then they need to pay for the excess weight. That would mean the seriously obese people pay extra and so can get bigger seats

I find people are usually wrong about what they think obese is. People often think people who are obese are just ' overweight', and that overweight people are a healthy weight.

Many people have lost sight of what a healthy weight is.

If you have to angle your legs in a certain way, then the seats aren't big enough