How airlines could make long-haul flights bearable for tall passengers. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
When I first started long-haul flying around the globe, checking in was done manually. You know, by a human (remember them?). I\u2019d wait in line, kicking my backpack along the floor inch-by-inch, until it was time to stride across to the counter \u2013 my long gait making the distance in a jiffy. Passport in hand and big, dumb, young smile ear-to-ear.<\/p>\n
You\u2019d see the steward\u2019s head come up from the keyboard \u2026 and up \u2026 their eyes clearly wondering when the chest will end and a head appear. When they eventually found my face, I\u2019d rarely even have to ask. \u201cWe\u2019ll put you in an exit row,\u201d they\u2019d say, or at worst, \u201cThis seat has a spare next to it.\u201d And inside my heart would be doing backflips of joy.<\/p>\n
Because it meant no pain.<\/p>\n
But then things changed. They monetised exit rows. Then they monetised seat selections. And soon enough, there was no human to talk to at all. Even if I can afford an exit row, they\u2019re usually sold out by the time I come looking for one.<\/p>\n
For days leading up to a flight, the anxiety and stress of my automated seat selection have a huge toll on my mental health. If I don\u2019t luck out, the physical impact can ruin the trip.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s uncomfortable for everyone, but …<\/p>\n
At 194cm tall, Chris Stead says long-haul flights can ruin his trips. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Nobody feels great on a long-haul flight and tall people aren\u2019t the only people suffering, but here are a few things you might not realise. Did you know that most headrests don\u2019t extend high enough? Instead, our heads float in the air while the pads dig uncomfortably into our traps.<\/p>\n
When the seat in front reclines, we can no longer see the TV as it\u2019s angled at our chests. Tray tables don\u2019t go flat, as our knees are wedged too high against the hard metal arms of the row in front. Even if it does, don\u2019t expect to get your laptop out. The screen hits the chair in front before it can fold open enough to be seen.<\/p>\n
And forget storing a water bottle in the little pouch in front. In fact, the in-flight magazine is the first thing evicted. There is also many a plane where we can\u2019t stand in the bathroom as the cabin\u2019s curve crushes your head. In turbulence, your melon drums We Will Rock You against the hard plastic.<\/p>\n
When you\u2019re tall, every time someone in front shifts in their seat or plonks down, it\u2019s like driving daggers into your kneecaps. Many times, I\u2019ve been wedged into economy so tightly my femur prevents the seat in front from reclining. Only for the occupant to slam their back down a half-dozen times thinking their seat is broken.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s my seat<\/p>\n
He recalls when staff would routinely place tall passengers in exit rows. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
But you know what\u2019s worst of all? That look on everyone\u2019s face when you walk down the aisle; look at the number beneath the luggage compartment; cast your eye down to that empty middle and say, \u201cI\u2019m so sorry, but that\u2019s my seat.\u201d<\/p>\n
And I am genuinely sorry. Because they didn\u2019t call the ceiling inspector, and not only is my flight a punishment, but also the person to the right, and left, and the poor sod in front. We\u2019re all stuffed. It\u2019s geometry.<\/p>\n
You can imagine how it feels to see seats next to empty seats when you\u2019re told at the desk, \u201cthe plane is completely full\u201d. Or to walk down the plane and see exit rows filled with people whose feet barely touch the ground. It\u2019s not their fault; it\u2019s airline policy.<\/p>\n
A tall order?<\/p>\n
Stead suggests recording passenger height to improve seating arrangements and reduce discomfort. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t have to be like this. There are numerous mobility and medical conditions that airlines are happy to accommodate, from severe arthritis to joint replacements, but not height. Even though at 194cm, I\u2019m 96% more likely to get deep vein thrombosis on an economy flight than someone 171cm, largely because of leg room.<\/p>\n
Perhaps it\u2019s time airlines stopped propagating this problem and began solving it. Not all seats need to be randomly allocated \u2013 even an extra few millimetres can save a flight. Surely it can\u2019t be that hard to record the height of passengers against their frequent flyer number and to get the seating algorithm to minimise the discomfort economy seats inflict not just on the tall timber, but the forest that surrounds.<\/p>\n
Because being tall isn\u2019t a choice.<\/p>\n
Until then, I\u2019ll keep folding myself into 17B like a hairy sack of badly packed tent poles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"How airlines could make long-haul flights bearable for tall passengers. Photo \/ Supplied When I first started long-haul…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":385634,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[200036,109708,32955,138,3276,35702,1333,51584,200035,12858,111,139,69,90,2850,384,31843,169567,3271,200037,31744,199,30638,684,4998],"class_list":{"0":"post-385633","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-194cm","9":"tag-airplanes","10":"tag-answer","11":"tag-business","12":"tag-chris","13":"tag-exit","14":"tag-get","15":"tag-hot","16":"tag-hows","17":"tag-knows","18":"tag-new-zealand","19":"tag-newzealand","20":"tag-nz","21":"tag-on","22":"tag-pain","23":"tag-people","24":"tag-planes","25":"tag-rows","26":"tag-should","27":"tag-sixfootfour","28":"tag-stead","29":"tag-take","30":"tag-tall","31":"tag-there","32":"tag-weather"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}