Leg Room Requirements Under Consideration for European Flights
Travel Blog • Michael Yessis • 06.20.07 | 12:07 PM ET
On behalf of all airline passengers who fly with their knees in their teeth, I say, “Hooray!” And: “What’s taking so long?” The European Aviation Safety Agency is considering imposing a minimum leg-room requirement on all planes registered in Europe. Acccording to an Agence France-Presse report, no distances between seats have been proposed, but one can hope it will become reality. The lack of space between seats, known in airline parlance as “pitch,” has become ridiculous, particularly when, like me, you’re six-foot-four and on a long-haul flight. The impetus for possible change, however, isn’t comfort. It’s safety. The EASA is worried about cases of deep vein thrombosis and the ability to evacuate planes within the mandated 90 seconds. (Via Elliot.org).
Related on World Hum:
* Dick Cheney, Long Flights and the Dangers of Deep Vein Thrombosis
* Flight Attendants’ Rep: ‘We’re Back to Pre-9/11 Passenger Attitudes’
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Michael Yessis is the cofounder and coeditor-in-chief of World Hum.
Eva 06.20.07 | 2:38 PM ET
I’ll drink to that! I’m only 5’7 but on one of Air Canada’s new planes last week I didn’t even have space to cross or uncross my legs. I can’t even imagine what you put up with, Michael.
mike 06.20.07 | 2:42 PM ET
That’s crazy, Eva. I put up with sore knees and heads in laps, mostly. No deep vein thrombosis yet—or ever, I hope.