[Travelandtourism] [Nyagdu] Airline seats keep shrinking

Fri Dec 27 18:30:05 UTC 2013

Hey there all,
It does seem like leg room has declined over the years on many airlines--at
least in coach class. Of course airlines have declined in many other ways:
fees for everything now, no meals on domestic flights, rude service
providers, etc. Those of us with canes that don't collapse need room  to
hold and slide these canes into an unobtrusive place (like along the wall)
for the majority of the flight. Planes seem to vary in terms of the ease of
dealing with canes. I'm not sure how current trends in seat size will affect
this. Frankly when I think of the airline business, I think of misanthropic
science fiction ideas, like genetic modification for shorter passengers, or
the anesthetizing of passengers for ease of transport:). Some people might
prefer the latter possibility.
Trevor

-----Original Message-----
From: Travelandtourism [mailto:travelandtourism-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of cheryl echevarria
Sent: Friday, December 27, 2013 9:57 AM
To: travelandtourism; nyagdu
Cc: Milton Taylor; Marc Maurer; Maurice Shackelford; david stayer; Jemal
Powell; Jo Taylor; Carl Jacobsen; Gary Wunder; Mark` Riccobono
Subject: Re: [Travelandtourism] [Nyagdu] Airline seats keep shrinking

Happy Holidays David Andrews:
2 points yes people are getting bigger, in fact from the article, right or
wrong the airlines are taking advantage of the situation. The article says
and the full link to the article is below, that, the Centers for Disease
Control reports that over the past 40 years Americans' waistlines have
expanded by 2.5 inches and the average person is heavier by more than 20
pounds.
Rather than make the seating space larger to accommodate that physical
transformation, airlines are making their offerings smaller.
Full story is here:
http://www.eturbonews.com/41124/airline-seats-keep-shrinking

Butt no I am correct, the airlines that I have mentioned are non-IATA
airlines.
And the others may join that are IATA Members like (Delta, American, United,
USAir, Jetblue), all depends on what you choose. And we will always go with
cheaper then the whole experience.
Spirit has just done this already, and Southwest is following. The
information comes directly from ASTA, the American Society of Travel Agents,
which I do belong, and the other source is ETN - Eturbonews.com My biggest
concern with this is, us the blind and disabled travelers. Where does one
sit, or where does one put our dogs, or where does one with people who are
blind that have other disabilities, like being in a wheelchair figure into
to this equation, the blind person, who may not have additional issues,
might find this acceptable.
But what about the rest of us.
I was also trying to get people talking, since this talk list has been very
quiet and not just because of the holidays.
Thank you for responding David.
Cheryl 

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

Sign up for our e-newsletter by e-mailing us you first and last name, and
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Echevarria Travel has partnered with Braille Smith. www.braillesmith.com for
all her braille needs.  Gail Smith is the Secretary of the NFB of Alabama

> Date: Fri, 27 Dec 2013 11:45:09 -0600
> To: nyagdu at nfbnet.org; travelandtourism at nfbnet.org; nyagdu at nfbnet.org
> From: dandrews at visi.com
> CC: milt2533 at gmail.com; officeofthepresident at nfb.org; 
> management at peachtreeradiofm.com; davidandloristayer at verizon.net; 
> derek2872 at yahoo.com; miltjotaylor at gmail.com; office at nfbny.org; 
> gwunder at earthlink.net; mriccobono at nfb.org
> Subject: Re: [Travelandtourism] [Nyagdu] Airline seats keep shrinking
> 
> I don't want to seem argumentative, but there are two things you say 
> that don't quite ring true.  First, you provide much valuable 
> information here, and it is appreciated.  Yes, airline seets are 
> getting smaller and being squeezed more.  But, to imply that most of 
> this comes from non IATA airlines like Spirit and Southwest is not 
> accurate, I believe.  Also, people are getting bigger, the percentage 
> of obese people has jumped dramatically in the past 10 to 20 years.
> 
> Dave
> 
> At 11:34 AM 12/27/2013, cheryl echevarria wrote:
> >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 echevarriatrave
> >l.com
> >
> >Sign up for our e-newsletter by e-mailing us you first and last name, 
> >and e-mail address to reservations at echevarriatravel.com, let us know 
> >if you want just text or pictures in your e-mail.
> >Echevarria Travel has partnered with Braille Smith. 
> >www.braillesmith.com for all her braille needs.  Gail Smith is the 
> >Secretary of the NFB of Alabama
> 
> 
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