A Federal appeals court has denied a FlyersRights.org lawsuit seeking to force the Federal Aviation Administration to make rules on the minimum space between seats on airliners.
The court appears to have ruled that the 2018 act by Congress mandating that the agency “shall issue regulations that establish minimum dimensions for passenger seats…including minimums for seat pitch, width, and length, and that are necessary for the safety of passengers” doesn’t mean what it says. Congress set a deadline of 2019 for regulations and the group sued to enforce it.
Instead, the three-judge panel of the DC Circuit agreed with the FAA’s contention that it is only required to issue regulations “if” it feels they are needed for passenger safety, despite the seemingly clear language of the law. It is likely, however, that the case is not over.
At issue is the continuing shrinkage of space between airline seatbacks and passengers’ knees, especially on low-cost airlines, where it can mean more seats fitted into the plane. It has also been an issue with other carriers who have now found that cramped knees help sell ‘extra legroom’ seats elsewhere in the plane.
FlyersRights, which has been pushing for a regulation since at least 2015, says that it is not merely a comfort issue because it affect passengers’ ability to safely and quickly evacuate the plane if necessary. FAA has repeatedly denied that seat pitch has anything to do with evacuation times.
The complexity of the issue can be seen not only in conflicting claims but in disputes over standards to be used in judgement. FAA has been accused, even by the Department of Transportation Inspector General, of using inaccurate data from ‘secret’ tests; it has also been pointed out that its testing has not been done with seats spaced as tightly as some carriers have put them.
