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Summer Squeeze
Opinion · June 9, 2003

Just as the busy summer travel season took off earlier this month, American Airlines announced it would scrap its roomier economy-class seats on nearly a quarter of its flights serving leisure and vacation markets. Midwest Airlines also said it would rip out its spacious seats on its new "saver" service and replace them with narrower ones.

Both airlines are playing catch-up with the competition, which seems intent on squeezing the most passengers into the least amount of space.

Compressing more travelers into a tiny aircraft cabin may lift the airline industry's profits in the short-term. But it's a dangerous mistake with long-term implications. Somewhere between the 34 inches of space that's widely regarded as ample legroom and the 30 inches we are being wedged into this summer, there is an invisible line that separates order and anarchy, dignity from degradation - even life from death.

Airlines shouldn't be too quick to cross it.

There's a direct link between a deficit of seat space and the decline of civilized behavior on a plane. During the mid- to late-1990s, as seat-room gradually shrunk on many airlines, the aircraft interior devolved into a lawless place. Passengers attacked flight attendants with broken bottles. They defecated on meal carts. The shock of 9/11 offered a temporary reprieve, but as planes begin filling up again, what's to stop the unruly behavior called "air rage" from continuing?

Losing legroom is humiliating, too. Every day, thousands of passengers who are too tall or too wide to fit the narrow confines of economy-class seating leave the plane exhausted and irritated, vowing never to darken the door of a Jet-way again. Their disenchantment with air travel won't just neutralize the added revenues the airlines would pocket from installing new seats to economy class; it may also translate into financial losses for airlines desperately trying to recover from the three worst years in the history of commercial aviation.

Cutting legroom also ignores the fact that sitting in a cramped airline seat appears to increases the risk of developing a deadly blood clot. Deep Venous Thrombosis (DVT), which is also known as economy-class syndrome, has claimed the lives of at least 40 air travelers. And it's not just older passengers with circulatory problems who are affected. A rugby player recently sued British Airways over a blood clot he got on a flight to Australia. A recent study also found that pregnant women and those taking contraceptive pills are at the highest risk of developing DVT on long-haul flights. By keeping passengers packed in like sardines, the number of DVT cases is bound to increase.

Airlines are in denial about the dangers of not offering enough legroom. Like tobacco companies, they insist the link between sitting in substandard-size seats and DVT is unproven. In fact, they say, people want less legroom, because it leads to lower fares. And they're just giving us what we want. But if they cared so much about meeting their customers' needs, then what happened to the friendly service? The free airline food?

The federal government doesn't seem to care if we're crammed into the cabin like trash in a compactor, either. Oddly, there are more rules relating to the comfort of live animals - very particular regulations about ventilation, ambient temperature, food and water - than for people. In many ways, you're better off as a dog in the plane's cargo hold. The government only mandates that exit-row seats must have enough legroom so that passengers can leave a plane during an emergency, and those few seats are among the most coveted on any plane.

Maybe it's time for our government to say enough is enough. Take away the service, the snacks, and the amenities. But this summer, leave us with a little legroom.

Christopher Elliott is a travel commentator based in Key Largo, Fla. All e-mailed questions may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion.