How Small Can They Go?

I was dreading my recent 13+ hour international flight in coach class, afraid that the rare (if not, once in a lifetime) first class international flight I took last year would have completely spoiled me.  I was somewhat pleasantly (or not as unpleasantly) surprised that the coach class seats weren't really that bad.  Granted, you couldn't recline nearly flat or curl up on your side to sleep, nor were you served with real dinnerware, but I actually got some reasonably comfortable sleep and felt like I had reasonable leg room.  Thank you El Al Air.

But, my blissful ignorance was blown after flying coach class on a red eye flight 2 nights ago, just days before Christmas.  My knees touched the seat in front of me (with only minimal slouching).  My hips wouldn't have been able to shift if they had been much bigger (I'm not that big am I?).  I couldn't tuck my feet into the magazine pocket, as I usually do, because there wasn't any room -- maybe my feet were too swollen?  And the amount of reclining can't really even be quantified into a significant number.  Thank you NWA -- I retract any previously glowing reviews.

According to recent reports, average seat width is approximately 17 inches.  If you walk through any typical American mall, the average gluteus maximus width is definitely not 17 inches.  Seat pitch, which basically is from the back of your seat to the seat in front of you, is approximately 31 inches.  Fly Midwest Express and you get a glorious 21 inch wide seat with a pitch of 33 inches.  I guess those few inches can make all the difference.  We won't go into the dimensions of a business or first class seat as it would probably send the majority of us into a serious depressive episode.

Which reminds me of a recent nightmare of a flight, when my seat neighbor arrived with the comment: "Oh good, a skinny person."  Let's just say that I didn't even get my 17 inches.  Ah, the joys of travel.