Space, the Final Frontier (for Airplane Seat Designers)?

I know this blog has gotten off to a rocky start, but now that I'm mentally weaning myself off winter break, I'm no longer sick, and I have a computer that works, we should be much better moving forward.

Is "airplane seat designer" a real job by itself? It is for this post.

Last time, I wondered about the effects of obesity and tiny airline seats. The typical airplane seat is 17-inches wide, which I have found is barely big enough for me and I'm of average size. And I'm a woman. The average man has broader shoulders than I do so we will always be rubbing arms and hating each other no matter what.

I wondered specifically about long-haul flights (four hours or more according to the article I will be using, but also used to reference trans-oceanic or overnight flights) in mind and how temporary sedentism can exacerbate the effects of chronic sedentism when the person is squeezed into the airplane seat. I recently had to sit through a couple of these, and my own joints get stiff and sore despite being young and healthy.

Unfortunately, no one has wondered quite the same thing I have and I could not find any research regarding staying seated in cramped spaces for four hours or more. I did find one article that touched on this so I will be speculating off of this.

It should be noted that I am focusing specifically on the size of the seats. Research has been done on leg room and passenger comfort and I acknowledge that the loss of leg room over the years in aircraft carriers hoping to maximize seating contributes to the general problem. I would like to say that this may worsen conditions that result from having one's legs bent for long periods of time, especially cardiovascular problems.

So, as airplanes have been getting larger and making longer flights, airlines have been working to maximize seating while providing guest comfort, especially on long haul flights⁽¹⁾. Dampening the noise from the engines, changing engine location, creating ergonomically designed seats, and adjusting for crossing time zones and changes in cabin pressure have all been strategies used to promote passenger comfort (and thus health). It should be noted that the airlines recognize the threat of edema, thromboses, and cramps but arrangements to actually relieve these problems (more leg room or incentives to get up and move around for a few minutes every couple of hours, if not more frequently) have been slow to be incorporated.

The point of this is the conflicting pressures. Airlines want to make the most money as possible, which means making passengers comfortable while maximizing seating. Larger passengers, especially overweight or obese passengers, are pressured to keep to their own space and take responsibility for the burden they impose on others when they do not fit into their own seat. Airlines are pressured to create policies to meet the needs of obese and non-obese customers but often fall very short of this or outright fail in the process. In addition, the negative health effects of sitting for four or more hours may not be immediately realized on the plane, but considering many Americans lead fairly sedentary lives, such seating certainly makes things worse.

Here, the interaction of health (affording adequate seating for all passengers to minimize risk of health detriment) and society (pressures on airlines, passengers of size, and average passengers) offer no win-win solution. Ideally, there may be a middle ground in which airplanes are designed with enough comfort and space to reduce health risk and passenger overlap while maximizing profit for the airline itself. However, even if such a middle ground existed, the ever-changing fluctuation in population body size averages and extremes would quickly make it irrelevant.

I don't have an answer, here, and the point of this blog isn't to find answers but rather to ask more questions that take into account multiple factors and how social and biological needs intersect. So, I would ask here, is it possible for everyone to be happy given the current cultural paradigm toward passengers of size? Or do we need to change the way we think about each other, especially during an activity as stressful as air travel? How responsible is a larger person for the space they occupy when they aren't fat through any particular action or will of their own? Finally, what other parallels are there in travel or anytime many people of different shapes and sizes get to together for hours on end that could benefit from finding an answer to the air travel problems?

Next post on Thursday with a new topic!

Cheers,
J. G.

1) DeHart, Roy. 2003. Health Issues of Air Travel. Annu. Rev. Public Health. 24:133-151