Leg room petition is a bit of a stretch

Is leg room really more important than price? Photo / iStock

You don't need to be unusually tall to feel cramped by the lack of leg room in Economy Class on a longhaul flight.

Humans simply aren't designed to stay seated for long periods of time. And sleeping while seated? No thanks. We're meant to evolve upwards, but Darwin never foresaw the indignities of a 14-hour haul to Vancouver.

Now there's a petition for aggrieved passengers to sign. FlyersRights.org is going to the US Congress demanding a host of passenger rights. First issue: seat sizes.

The organisation, which has 60,000 members, believes a passenger revolt is brewing. They're also pushing for greater rights over "bumped" flights and refunds for lost or delayed luggage.

The seat-size battle is their strong suit. Paul Hudson, FlyersRights president, told The Economist: "You reach a certain point of fed up-ness, and I think with the seats you're getting there."

The industry position is clear. Customers will tell you they want more room. Perhaps they'll even sign petitions like this one demanding more room. But when push comes to shove - when the credit card is out and they're actually about to book their ticket - it all comes down to price.

When asked, we'll say that leg room and full-meal service matters. But in truth, the bottom-line price (mostly) decides how we fly.

So the airlines listen to customers and provide cheaper seats - meaning they have to pack in more passengers to make a good profit, thus giving us less leg room. No petition will change that.