Feel Squished? Airlines Are Shrinking Headroom, Too
By Scott Mccartney, The Wall Street Journal | Dec. 07, 2016
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Stop thinking about legroom on flights. It's the headroom that is shrinking, and making us feel really uncomfortable.
One passenger's nose may be 3 inches closer to the back of the head in front of her. That is before the person ahead reclines. The skinny seats installed recently largely preserve knee and legroom, but in rows that are compressed. Seat density has increased significantly the last couple of years. The average flight now has 142 seats onboard, compared with 137 two years ago, according to airline reservation system Travelport. Installing skinny bathrooms and minimizing galleys have let airlines pack more rows in, too.
Psychologists say the eye-level squeeze is a big reason travelers are feeling more anxious on densely packed planes.
In any kind of travel, people mentally adjust their spatial limits to their surroundings, be it a crowded subway car or an airplane. Body size matters. And aircraft designs of ceilings and chairs, can help mitigate some of the discomfort by creating an illusion of a more spacious, open atmosphere.
Research has shown different parts of the body have different tolerances, says Stella Lourenco, an Emory University psychology professor who studies personal space issues. "Everyone has to have some minimal" space, Dr. Lourenco says. Reduced head room can impact not only people with some claustrophobic fears but average people as well. "It's a huge problem as seats get smaller and closer," she says.
Martin Seif, a New York clinical psychologist and associate director of the Anxiety and Phobia Treatment Center for White Plains Hospital Center, says his clients often pay to sit in the first or second row of coach cabins, or pay for first class, to minimize the impact of skinny rows. "The head is probably the most important part," he says. "Higher density leads to a greater chance of losing your temper and even air rage," Dr. Seif says.
Airlines say packing more people into each plane has made them more money and allowed them to give customers more cheap seats. Space for legs, and heads, is adequate for comfort, airlines say, and passengers are packing flights.
Airbus says its research shows three main comfort points: head level, knee clearance and shin level, where you can stretch your legs in front of you. Skinny seats have maintained knee clearance and expanded shin space. Entertainment boxes can interfere, however. "Even at the head level, we have absolutely no complaints from what we hear from our airline customers," says Anais Marzo, Airbus head of aircraft interiors marketing in Toulouse, France.
Boeing engineers have said in the past they reduced some cramped head space sensation by redesigning ceiling panels to make the cabin seem more spacious. Boeing said, "The reality is that airlines want flexibility to optimize their configurations and maximize revenue."
Is That Your Seat?
Airlines have squeezed 7%-8% more seats into some of their planes. Here are some comparisons. (Source: OAG)
American's Boeing 737-800s now fly with 160 seats, up from 148 in 2013.
United's Boeing 737-800s have 162 seats, up from 152 in 2013.
United's Airbus A319s now has 128 seats compared with 120 originally.
Delta's Airbus A319s: 129 seats.
Frontier's A319s: 138 seats.
Spirit Airlines' A319s: 145 seats
Virgin America's A319s: 119 seats.
More dense-packing of planes is still to come. Next year, JetBlue will add two rows of seats to its A320 jets, increasing to 162 seats from 150. The galley in the rear will shrink, so JetBlue will change the way it serves snacks and drinks, using carts in aisles instead of serving from the galley with hand trays. The carrier has already pushed its A321s to 200 seats from 190.
Airbus has widened emergency exits and slides on the A320 and A321 and gained approval from regulators to boost the maximum number of passengers allowed on the jets to 189 from 180 and 240 from 220, respectively. The extra seats come from a smaller rear cabin galley and newly designed skinny bathrooms that allow two restrooms side-by-side in the tail. The divider between bathrooms can be folded away to accommodate a wheelchair passenger, says Airbus' Ms. Marzo.
Airbus says 27 airlines have taken delivery of the Space Flex bathroom design so far. By the end of 2017, 50% of A320-family deliveries will have the new design.
On the Boeing 777 widebody jet, airlines have a choice of whether to put nine seats in each coach row or 10. British Airways recently decided to increase to 10, joining American, Air Canada, Air France, Air New Zealand, Emirates, Etihad and others. The seats' width shrinks from 18 inches to 17 inches.
British Air Chief Executive Alex Cruz says the change will allow it to offer prices as low as discount trans-Atlantic competitors such as Norwegian Air, which launched Oakland-London flights last summer. British Air will start flying that route in May with prices as low as US$599 on 777s with 10-abreast seating.
"One way to get more flexibility on price is to have a few more seats on the plane," Mr. Cruz says. "At the end when we looked at the pros and the cons, it was really overwhelming."