the endless debate, how much smaller can airplane seats get? americans fete up with tiny seats so thousands flooded the faa with complaints hoping they ll do something to fix this. can they do this and fit three seats on either side on a lot of these planes and be within regulation? reporter: we ll see. there is no rule against it, poppy. seeing as though airlines keep shrinking seats, more people equals more profit. but what s interesting is now the faa is looking at this strictly from a safety issue. passengers tell us, at least it s a start. luxury is what flying was supposed to be. but these days, leg room is shrinking. as passengers are getting larger. things are definitely getting too small on planes.
i can t imagine seats or aisles being smaller than they are today. now the federal aviation administration is considering whether to stop airlines from making seats smaller. leave everything and come this way. reporter: the agency is under a congressional mandate to study whether seat size could slow on evacuation. but in 26,000 public comments, many focused on comfort. the more people that you could jam into a plane, the more money you ll make. reporter: flyers s rights said they re trying to squeeze out more profit. this week six u.s. senators told the faa to act urgently and not wait for seats to get any smaller. so i decided to put airlines to the test. two things necessarily for this little experiment of our own. a tike and a tape measure. on this united airlines flight, leg room was right at the industry standard, 30 inches. but it all depends on the airline. leg room could get even tighter on ultra low cost carriers.
standard, 30 inches. but it all depends on the airline. leg room can get tighter on ultra low cost carriers. 27 inches is what we saw on this allegiant flight. so they re looking for dimensions that would fit 90% of americans. in its comments to the faa, the airline s top lobby said it would not compromise on safety but told the government to stay out of regulating passenger comfort. the faa and department of transportation declined our interview request. their position to date has been how uncomfortable you are is between you and the air carrier. reporter: one airline is making some changes to its leg room. you might be surprised to learn that spirit is ordering new planes that allow for an extra two inches of leg room. we will see if the faa acts on
we re dying. it doesn t matter what airline it is. i can t imagine seats or aisles being smaller than they are today. now the federal aviation administration is considering whether to stop airlines from making seats smaller. evacuate, evacuate. leave everything. come this way. reporter: the agency is under a congressional mandate to study whether a seat size could slow an evacuation. but in 26,000 public comments many focused on comfort. the idea is the more people you can jam into a plane, the more money you make. reporter: airlines are trying to squeeze out more profit. this week six u.s. senators are telling the faa to act youurgen and not wait for seats to get smaller. so i decided to put airlines to the test. on this united airlines flight. leg room was at the industry
27 inches is what we saw on this allegiant airlines flights. flyers rights proposed a minimum of 32 inches leg room and seats that are wider, dimensions that would fit 90% of americans. that would make a huge difference. reporter: in the comment to the noaa, the airline top lobby said it would not compromise on safety but told the government to stay out of regulating passenger comfort. the faa and the department of transportation declined our interview requests. their position to date has been how uncomfortable you are is between you and the air carrier. reporter: one airline is making changes when to comes to seat size. you might be surprised to learn that spirit airlines said it will increase seat size on some of the new planes that it is buying. thinner seats that will lead to an extra two inches of leg room. clearly something to watch here.