2300 miles, 28" seat pitch != comfort

[CHamilton]

The Worst, Most Uncomfortable Flight in America

Yesterday Spirit Airlines began flying Los Angeles – Baltimore. (On August 20 they will begin flying Los Angeles – Atlanta.)

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Although I have little doubt that these flights are extremely uncomfortable and are likely to be physically harmful to taller people the honest truth is that seat pitch is a lousy indicator of usable room. Both a UA-787 and a CX-777 claim to have 32" pitch. Nonetheless the UA-787 has proven entirely workable for me while the CX-777 has become impossible for me to use without inducing serious discomfort leading to pain and eventually to alarming levels of numbness. This is apparently due to differences in seat design and thickness that are ignored by raw seat pitch measures. One of the features I really like about Google Flights is the attention they draw to the likely seat pitch of your selected flight. Unfortunately that measurement has already proven entirely insufficient when making decisions about today's heavily compressed seat maps.

 

[railiner]

Very true...seat pitch does not totally determine comfort. Some seats of different design will allow, or not allow, you to stretch your legs straight out beneath the seat ahead.

And the ergonomics of the seat design are very important for comfort on longer trips.

Today's seat manufacturer's, and their customer's, should take a history lesson in seat design research from the old Heywood-Wakefield Company's "Sleepy Hollow" railroad seats....http://streamlinermemories.info/?p=261

 

[Anderson]

You'd probably need to do another round of research (Americans' bodies have...er...changed since 1947), but from what I can tell those seats would be a big step up for, at a bare minimum, Economy Plus-type seats (I cannot see an airline providing them for straight economy, but then again...it isn't like straight economy on an airline is supposed to be anything beyond tolerable these days).

 

[railiner]

Your right about the need for a new study....

The Sleepy Hollow leg rest recliner's used on transcontinental trains were supremely comfortable...designed to hold their occupants for 40 plus hour, two night trips.

I personally think they are better than even the fancy lie-flat first class seats on trans-oceanic flights of today.

They would never be used by an airline as they were much too heavy compared to airliner seating...

 

[jis]

A reclining seat better than a lie flat? I guess it takes different tastes to make this world! I would never choose a reclining seat no matter how padded over a flat surface.

 

[railiner]

Yes it does.....I can often get a better nights sleep (no tossing and turning) in my La Z Boy recliner, than in my Simmons Beautyrest mattress....at home....