By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Six Democratic U.S senators urged the Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday to bar airlines from further shrinking the size and leg room of airplane seats.
The senators including Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Richard Blumenthal, Edward Markey and Ron Wyden, said airlines have been shrinking seat sizes since at least the 1990s — with seat pitch, which determines leg room, decreasing from 32 inches (81 cm) to 28 inches (71 cm), and seat width decreasing from 19 inches (48 cm) to as little as 16 inches (41 cm).
"We urge the FAA to comprehensively review the safety factors impacting seat pitch, width, and length and ensure that such safety factors take into account the entirety of the American public – including children, senior citizens, individuals with disabilities, and others," the senators wrote to FAA Acting Administrator Billy Nolen.
"We urge the FAA to immediately prohibit any reduction in size, width, or pitch of seats on airplanes, the amount of leg room per seat, and the width of aisles on such planes until a final rule is issued."
Airlines for America, a group representing United Airlines, Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL), American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) and others and the International Air Transport Association said in written comments they believe the FAA should not write regulations setting minimum seating dimensions, arguing the agency "has thoroughly studied seat sizes and concluded that current passenger dimensions and configurations are safe."
In 2018, Congress said FAA within a year had to issue regulations establishing minimum dimensions for passenger seats - including minimums for seat pitch, width, and length - "that are necessary for the safety of passengers."
Last month, a U.S. appeals court heard arguments from a flyer advocacy group urging it to order the FAA to set minimum seat dimensions on passenger airplanes. There are no current minimum seat dimensions.
Current rules say airlines must be able to evacuate passengers within 90 seconds but do not set seat size requirements.
In July 2018 the FAA said it would not regulate seat size.
Airlines' margins could suffer if they had to reconfigure planes and eliminate seats.
The FAA noted Tuesday it had released an aircraft cabin evacuation study in March and opened it for comments in August. The FAA has received nearly 25,000 comments. The comment period expires Tuesday.