I dimly recall when flying was kinda sophisticated, now it’s a cramped hell that is seemingly about to get worse. This is a letter to The Consumerist, and I can only add that Dallas to Orange County is bad enough, but LA to London or Tokyo could become even more of a painful nightmare.
“I’m a road warrior and fly every week from Dallas DFW to Orange County SNA for work. I’ve been doing this trip for about 6 months so I know the drill. Every week I book my ticket for about 3 weeks out to get the best fares and to get the seats that I like. My preference has been to sit in row 14 as that is the second exit row and the seats can recline. This week I went to book my ticket for the week of June 14th and I noticed that on my outbound flight (to SNA) 14 was the 2nd exit row, however on my return flight which is June 17th row 15 is the 2nd exit row. I figured it must be a mistake or something and checked around. It looks like American is adding in 2 rows to the 737 on or about June 15th. Previously there were only 28 rows on a 737 but now there will be 30. As someone who flies on the plane every week, I can tell you, it isn’t very roomy in coach as it is. When they add two more rows it will definitely suck.” (Click here for more)
Click here for the Byrds
Luckily nobody flies 737s between the USA and the UK -- they don't have the range. Even the big US airlines (ack, spit) don't cram the seats as close aboard long-haul wide bodies like the A330 or B777; if nothing else, the risk of lawsuits from DVT would hammer them.
ReplyDeleteLast time I accidentally flew Continental from Scotland to Boston, the trans-Atlantic leg on a 757 was surprisingly comfortable. Then I had to transfer to a domestic 737 short-haul flight from Newark, and the seats were w-a-y closer together.