[Travelandtourism] Airline seats keep shrinking

[Peter Donahue]

Good morning Cheryl and everyone,

    I warned about this several years ago. No one including Marion Gwizdala 
took me seriously when I told him and others that shrinking airplane seats 
would not only pose a travel barrier for large passengers but could 
jeopardize our ability to keep our guide dogs in the cabin with us when we 
fly. Perhaps this airline resolution that has been discussed here should 
address the issue of less seat room and how it is creating problems for 
passengers that travel with guide dogs. It's no wonder that some of us are 
searching for flying options other than the airlines.

Peter Donahue



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "cheryl echevarria" <cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com>
To: "travelandtourism" <travelandtourism at nfbnet.org>; "nyagdu" 
<nyagdu at nfbnet.org>
Cc: "Milton Taylor" <milt2533 at gmail.com>; "Marc Maurer" 
<officeofthepresident at nfb.org>; "Maurice Shackelford" 
<management at peachtreeradiofm.com>; "david stayer" 
<davidandloristayer at verizon.net>; "Jemal Powell" <derek2872 at yahoo.com>; "Jo 
Taylor" <miltjotaylor at gmail.com>; "Carl Jacobsen" <office at nfbny.org>; "Gary 
Wunder" <gwunder at earthlink.net>; "Mark` Riccobono" <mriccobono at nfb.org>
Sent: Friday, December 27, 2013 11:34 AM
Subject: [Travelandtourism] Airline seats keep shrinking


There are many commercials out there, that are making fun of these issues, 
but they are happening, especially with airlines that do not belong to IATA 
such as Southwest and Spirit Airlines, and some others.  Some have heard me 
talk about IATA and some do not know what this is. I will be posting this 
not only to Travel & Tourism, but to NAGDU and to some leaders in the 
organization.
Would love to hear your feedback on this subject.
Yes, you are not going crazy or getting bigger and heavier. The fact is 
that, the airlines are trying to take as much room as possible from the 
space they already have on the planes, and add more seats. They make more 
money because the get more passengers. The airlines can take a 150 passenger 
plane and move the seats in and add up to 178 passengers.
How do they do this, they take away the leg room, and for some of us this is 
way to tight, even though that are not overweight will have issues breathing 
or even relaxing on a 3 hour flight, like to Orlando in Fl.
Airlines such as Southwest and Spirit are already doing this, and charging 
more for it as well.
Now for those of us, who are also more than just blind or use guide dogs, 
how do we fit in, or where is the under the seat space, supposedly our dogs 
and lie in when they force us to stick dogs under the seat in front of us, 
well we wont be able to like this.
What do you think?  Let us know.
Also I mentioned an organization called IATA, which stands for International 
Air Transport Association,  is the trade association for the world’s 
airlines. It represents some 240 airlines or more than 80% of total air 
traffic. IATA supports airline activity and helps formulate industry policy 
and standards. It is headquartered in Montreal, Canada with Executive 
Offices in Geneva, Switzerland
"IATA provides consulting and training services in many areas crucial to 
aviation.Travel Agent accreditation is available for travel professionals. 
Full accreditation allows agents to sell tickets on behalf of all IATA 
member airlines.Cargo Agent accreditation is a similar program.IATA also 
runs the Billing and Settlement Plan, which is a $300 billion-plus financial 
system that looks after airline money.And it provides a number of business 
intelligence publications and services.Training covers all aspects of 
aviation and ranges from beginner courses through to senior management 
courses."
The majority of all the airlines belong to this organization, as well as, 
travel professionals, like yours truly can apply for card with them. I have 
enough association cards, that allow me to book my clients, they are also 
very expense to get an association with them for someone who is a home based 
agent.
For more about IATA - here is a link for all the information on them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Air_Transport_Association
Many of the Host Agencies have them, so you don't personally needs them.
Southwest and Spirit do not belong to this organization, they have a choice 
to do this, but if they were, they would have to comply with certain 
standards, which they don't. So if you are contacting a travel professional 
and they say they cannot book Southwest or Spirit, it is because they do not 
belong to this organization. So in short, no more leg room, you must sit up 
like a board, and I know myself, if I sit up that straight, it will prevent 
me from doing other things, like maybe doing some work on the plane, or like 
I said where do I put my dog, in the overhead area. That would be funny. 
NOT!
Cheryl Echevarria, PresidentNFB Travel & Tourism 
Divisioninfo at nfbtravel.org631-236-5138www.nfbtravel.orgfacebook page: NFB 
Travel & TourismTwitter: nfbtraveltour1

Disabled Entrepreneur of the Year 2012 of NY StateOffering the Best in 
Meaningful Travel Experiences for Everyone!Cheryl Echevarria, 
Ownerwww.echevarriatravel.com631-456-5394reservations at echevarriatravel.com

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