Passengers Are Winners In Great Legroom War

Since recurrent fare wars apparently haven't been pulling inenough business to bolster the ailing airline industry, carriers nowhave embarked on the Great Legroom War.

Passengers seem to have fussed so much about leg cramps andbruised knees that airlines are finally getting the picture. (It'samazing what product improvements are made when business gets bad.)

The battle started in business class, where fares are higher andempty seats thus are more costly to the carriers than those in coach.Virgin Atlantic and Continental currently are squabbling publiclyover who copied whom in the comfort competition.

But concern about providing roomier seats also is spreadingbeyond the velvet curtain.

I recently traveled trans-Atlantic in the coach section on twoAir France planes (a 747 and a 767) and was pleasantly surprised thatI could reach down and slip off my shoes or grab a pen from mypocketbook even with the tray table down and set for dinner (Icouldn't see the in-flight movie very well, but that's anotherstory).

Also recently, when I sampled Kiwi International's new Floridaservice, I reclined my seatback in tandem with the passenger in frontof me for half the flight before I realized it wasn't necessary. Andlast summer, on comfort pioneer Alaska Airlines, my two travelingcompanions and I were amazed that none of us had anyone from the rowahead napping in our breakfast.

TWA has been dangling extra legroom as a passenger lure formonths, and claims to be "the roomiest U.S. carrier in the sky."

We're really on a roll here.

The cover story of the January issue of Frequent Flyer magazine"The Search for the Perfect Airline Seat" - concluded every seatdesign is a compromise that seldom makes everyone happy. But it heldout hope for the future.

Meanwhile, frequent travelers long have requested the bulkheadseats behind cabin divider walls, where passengers never have tocontend with someone else's seatback crowding their space. Theseseats are increasingly reserved for handicapped travelers or familieswith small children, but it never hurts to ask if you think you'regoing to be too cramped elsewhere. Travel agents usually can offerinsights into the configuration of aircraft used on various routes.

The rows adjoining emergency exits will become roomier under anew Federal Aviation Administration rule applying to planes with morethan 60 seats. Last December, the FAA asked airlines to increase thedistance between exit rows from 10 to 20 inches in three-abreastseating and from six to 10 in two-abreast, or to remove the seatimmediately next to the exit, to allow more room for passengers tomaneuver in an emergency. A number of airlines have petitioned forextensions of the deadline, however, according to an FAA spokesman.