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

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Do any airlines have adult-sized seats? Not obese adults, just regular adults?

We've just flown with Jet2 and my back is still in agony from the trip there. I was in the middle seat between my friend, who is slightly overweight but also short, so proportionately, she is not much wider than an average height, average weight woman, and a man who was maybe bordering on obese, his ass fit in his own seat, but his shoulders took a good three/four inches of my seat. My friend's shoulders took maybe a cm or 2 of my seat.

I'm not on the small side myself; I'm not overweight, but I am not what you'd describe as skinny. I needed all my shoulder space to myself. I was unable to sit back the entire flight because I literally didn't fit. I had to hunch forward with my shoulders rolled in.

On the way back, I was sitting between my friend, a short, slim lady. I could sit back, but I was touching both people on either side of me, and there was no elbow space or wriggle room.

For next year, I need either my shoulders shaved down and a few ribs removed or actual, people-sized seats. Do such seats exist?

These people were not huge, though. I don't know why people are assuming they were when I have said several times that they were not. They were normal people, and yes, I know what normal, overweight, and obese look like.

I don't understand why posters are so determined to blame obese people for my discomfort. There were no obese people in our seating row.

It is leg length not height although sometimes they go together. My husband is a couple of inches shorter than yours but has a short body. All his height is in his legs. He cannot fit into a normal airplane seat without angling his legs.

Literally from your OP:

"my friend, who is slightly overweight"

"a man who was maybe bordering on obese"

None of that says "these are normal weight people".

Neither of our dhs are average size tbf. I have to angle my legs too and I personally don't find it uncomfortable. I've just accepted it as part of the parcel of being tall haha.

But was that 95 centile in height or width?

Maybe planes need to offer extra wide seats. Something like a seat and half. Very few would want to admit they need 2 full seats, and even if someone does buy two seats, it really can't be that comfortable to have an ass cheek on each seat and you head between the seats with your spine on the arm rest.

Yes, but they were not obese, which is who many posters are blaming, unless we think the obese people ate part of the seats as they passed, it was not their fault that I was squashed.

Overweight pretty much is the norm these days. Three ordinary people should be able to fit in the seats.

I work overseas and so fly with Easyjet twice a week. I'm a 6'1" man weighing about 15 and a half stone, so there's plenty of me, and I always fit in my seat fine if I'm in the centre or aisle, so long as the person next to me is not obese and coming over the line of the seat arm. Window seats are tighter because they cut in more around the height of my shoulder.

Perhaps Easyjet has more generous seats that Jet2, who I have only flown with rarely and not for several years.

They definitely don’t have enough leg space and reclining should be abolished !!

I've not flown jet2 is it because they are a budget airline? Probably trying to squeeze more people on perhaps. Flew economy on BA, my other half is overweight and he was fine in the economy seats for 10 hour flight. Not had issue on TUI either but not flown with them for a few years.

The last flight I was on (not Jet2), I was struggling for leg room. I don't meet many people who are shorter than I am. I don't remember this being an issue when I was younger, and I definitely haven't got bigger!

People are getting bigger, seats are getting smaller, and both of those issues together make for very uncomfortable journeys!

We flew jet2 a few weeks ago - DH, myself and our 2 children. Both ways we were allocated 3 on one side and then aisle on other. As soon as we got near our seat both times I clocked a large manspreader on aisle next to the single seat and asked DH to sit there whilst I sat on other side with our children. I just wasn't comfortable with an unknown male spreading onto my seat for 4+ hours. I also find they are more likely to spread with a women next to them than a man.

DH and I are both tall and average size and legroom was OK, seat width was slightly narrow, but not too bad.

Quite a few years back they seemed to make seats a bit narrower to get more passengers in. Middle seats are always really tight you aim to get an aisle seat or a window seat. And people have got bigger, as even you say the people around you were fat or borderline fat and you are not slim.

He didn't manspread, but he was completely oblivious to the fact that his top half was in my seat. So all of you who say you fit perfectly, I'd double-check your top half next time you fly because this man also thought he fit perfectly. I heard him tell his wife how much more space he had on Jet2 vs the last airline he flew with

Absolutely agree. I remember being charged excess baggage once on a flight to Germany for the sake of 5kg. I was a
petite student, less than 50kg in weight. In the queue for check in was a huge group of enormous men - they must have easily weighed twice, if not three times, what I did. And yet, I was charged for the ‘extra’ weight I brought on board! Madness!

I don’t think seats are going to get bigger. That would mean fewer seats on an airplane and the costs would go up. Most people want cheap travel.

Book a more expensive seat with another airline, said the short fat flyer.

That's what I was asking, which airline has bigger seats?

The answer appears to be EasyJet, up to now. Or we skip Europe and fly to the US.

The obese man should have booked two seats for himself. So he's not spilling over onto someone else's personal space.

Essentially none of them. The most common seats on short haul airlines are made by Recaro, Collins and Safran. Recaro seats are the most common across European airlines I'd hazard a guess, they're shit. So are the others granted, the Recaro seats just aren't built as well. They're all similar size, and have actually got bigger in recent years with recaros latest seat having more legroom than previous generations (because the padding on the back is now like an ironing board). Basically, all airlines have very similar seating in economy.

One of the reasons we fly out of season is so we can try and get a whole row to ourselves (or a row each if we’re lucky) It’s not guaranteed but going off season definitely increases the chances. We’re just average sized and still find the seats a little squeezy, more so my 6’ 3’’ husband!

That does seem small. The average British man is 5'9" and a healthy weight for a man that height is up to 169 lbs.

I prefer a window seat for this reason - I can lean across into the window area. I was in agony by the time I got off my last Jet2 flight but I didn't notice their seats being worse than anyone else's. We were delayed by about an hour on the tarmac and it was a 4 hour flight and we had spent 3 hours queuing in the airport so I assumed it was the combination.