Watch Your A** On This Plane

You can file this under oversensitive airline nit-picking if you want, but oh my aching tuckus.

I’m sitting on a flight ready to roll back from the gate, privately congratulating myself for scoring an exit row seat. Ninety-four minutes later, I didn’t feel so great, my backside was aching and I was happy to be at my destination.

A few weeks later, same thing: my smugness fades early and the extra legroom in the exit row isn’t a consolation. I realize that this is the same type of aircraft as before, a Canadair CRJ700, made by Bombardier Aerospace. I experiment with other seats on the plane and quickly determine that there’s far less padding on the seats in the exit row. This must be motivated by some safety concern on the part of the designers. Are they kidding? Do people really get bogged down in the cushy soft pads of other aircraft seats? In coach? Give me a break.

The CRJ700 is a very popular plane and is operated by lots of carriers including American, US Airways, Delta, Lufthansa, British Airways, and Air France among others. I like it for lots of other reasons, but it’s more fun to complain. For now, my clients and I will make do with less legroom.

Photo Credit: Bombardier Inc.