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from the next-up:-the-case-of-the-expanding-airline-passenger dept.
The 'Incredible Shrinking Airline Seat' Gets a U.S. Court Rebuke
If you think the government should do something about the cramped legroom on airplanes, you've got a friend in a federal court.
The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., on Friday ordered aviation regulators to consider setting minimum standards for the space airlines give passengers.
"This is the Case of the Incredible Shrinking Airline Seat," Judge Patricia Ann Millett wrote on behalf of the three-judge panel. "As many have no doubt noticed, aircraft seats and the spacing between them have been getting smaller and smaller, while American passengers have been growing in size."
The court found in favor of Flyers Rights, a nonprofit advocacy group, which had argued that steadily shrinking legroom and seat size created a safety hazard and the Federal Aviation Administration should impose new restrictions.
Additional coverage at Reuters and CNN
Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge MILLETT.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Thexalon on Monday July 31 2017, @03:41PM (3 children)
Because if government sucks at doing one thing, they automatically suck at doing something only vaguely related, right?
In this case, we're talking about measuring the size of seats and legroom on a plane and ticking a checkbox on some kind of periodic inspection form. I mean, I can get pretty cynical about government sometimes too, but I'm pretty sure they can handle this.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 31 2017, @03:57PM (2 children)
That's been my experience.
(Score: 2) by KGIII on Monday July 31 2017, @05:17PM (1 child)
My concern would be that mandated minimum seat sizes would lead to all seats only being that size. I say would because I don't fly commercial normally. If I do, I go to Canada and fly out of there. Anything that isn't international, I fly charter. There is no TSA, no real security, and no lines. It helps that I know a number of pilots with planes of their own, leased, or time-shared. Yes, they have time-share planes. I'm pretty sure they have different names for that service, but I am not a pilot. The plane is owned by a company and you contract for time on it. They will, I guess, even supply a pilot - if you don't have one. They're usually twin engines or small jets, from what I have seen.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday August 01 2017, @12:57AM
The issue here is that the mandated minimum seat sizes are larger than what is currently offered as coach seating on commercial airliners.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.