FAA now forced to look at petition about regulating airplane seat sizes

The Federal Aviation Administration is being forced to reconsider regulating how small airlines make their seats.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the FAA must again review a 2015 petition from the Flyers Rights group. The nonprofit group wants the FAA to regulate seat sizes and space on commercial airplanes, expressing concerns that passengers’ safety and health are at risk if seats are too small and too close together.

The FAA claimed that emergency evacuation tests had proven that people could successfully exit the plane during a crisis even with smaller seats; however, the court said that because those tests have not been made public, the FAA must review the group’s petition again.

On Monday’s “The Morning Blaze with Doc Thompson,” the guys talked about seat sizes and whether or not the government should get involved. They also had a lively debate about which passengers in a row have the right to their armrests.

Kal Elsebai’s stance was that the passenger in the middle seat should get both armrests on either side because they have nowhere to go. Doc Thompson objected, saying there was no room at the window so you still need an armrest from the middle.

“Wow, Kal is not the guy you want sitting with you,” Doc said.

To see more from Doc, visit his channel on TheBlaze and listen live to “The Morning Blaze with Doc Thompson” weekdays 6–9 a.m. ET, only on TheBlaze Radio Network.