Travel Tips

Travel Tip: Airplane Seats are Getting Smaller & More Crowded

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons User Douglas P. Perkins

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons User Douglas P. Perkins

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons User Douglas P. Perkins

It’s not your imagination: airplane seats are shrinking and the cabins are getting more crowded.

A number of airlines have already installed thinner, lighter seats that allow them to squeeze more seats on the aircraft.

Hawaiian Airlines is the latest to add slimmer seats to its entire fleet of 18 Boeing 717s. The good news? It’s only on short-hop flights.

Now, Boeing itself has announced that among several upgrades to its 777 jet, it will add up to 14 extra seats. They’ll also shrink the bathrooms by 8 inches. As if they weren’t small enough.

The European Aviation Safety Agency has also announced a rule that will allow A320s—which fly short and medium-haul flights—to fit an additional 15 seats. That will increase the total number from 180 to 195 seats on the planes.

Plus, rumor has it the discount airline, Ryanair, may offer transatlantic flights in the next five years, for as little as $15 each way. I’ll believe when I see it.

But talk about crowded, uncomfortable planes…on Ryanair’s current aircraft, the seats don’t even recline!

For more information about airplane seats and crowded flights, check out:

Keep reading for more travel tips.