Flying occasionally out of the midwest (strange terminology - should be midcentral), it has been a long time since I was on an airliner with empty seats. Perhaps that's because I fly OUT of the middle of the country (KXNA, KTUL), mostly to the east coast (KEWR, KRIC). On the other hand, you can judge the number of no-shows by the ability of an airline to accommodate a dozen standby passengers on some of these flights.
I understand. Either the CEO's of these airlines always fly first class, or they are 5'0" midgets sitting in steerage. Best economy class seating I've seen in recent years was on an Emirates 777 and that wasn't all that great.
I have to agree that Southwest is my airline of choice - WHEN I must fly. But SW is also crowding seats another inch or two to stuff another row in. Other than leg room, they are the best I've flown for domestic flights.
I don't mind the TSA hassle. What I can't (and won't) tolerate is the decreasing legroom. I am 6'4" tall with long legs. I can sit in a United 757 seat in steerage with my butt against the seatback and my knees touching the seatframe in front of me. I get bruised kneecaps from people in front of me trying to recline the seatback. I have given up flying domestically which hasn't cost the airlines much - perhaps 10 ticket prices a year.
Fortunately, I'm retired and time is less of a factor than a few years ago. I refuse to fly within the domestic U.S. these days, and prefer to drive. I have more legroom, effectively unlimited baggage storage, discretionary restroom choice, choice of seatmate, and few if any weather delays. I wonder how much revenue the airlines are losing from people who have just given up flying? I now avoid flying whenever possible.
I don't think any conclusions can be drawn here. Masks are in the overhead compartments which can be sheared open in a crash. Elastic straps holding the masks are rather flimsy and masks could be scattered about the cabin area. Fingerprints would be difficult to obtain from many fibrous surfaces, and in any case, both fingerprint residue (lipids, salts and amino acids) and DNA are biodegradable and/or water soluble over time. On the other hand, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, either.
I'm not an exception, John, other than the fact that I try to stay in decent physical condition. I live at 1,000 ft. elevation in Missouri and travel to Colorado nearly every year for two weeks, staying at 8,500 ft. elevation, hiking every other day to altitudes varying from 10,000 ft. to 14,000 ft. (Long's Peak, Meeker, etc.). I've also hiked over a 15,100 ft. pass in the Andes, and over 15,000 ft. in Nepal with a group of other hikers, none of which had any altitude issues. I don't do any extraordinary conditioning (just walking at my age).
I'm not saying that 18,000 plus isn't a problem, especially for persons who have not acclimated or who are not in good physical condition. I'm just skeptical that 18,000 ft. is "deadly" or hypoxic when tens of thousands of people do what I do every year, and thousands have climbed much higher. If anything, I suspect that the rapid change has more effect at altitudes below FL180.
There is no question that oxygen deprivation at commercial airliner altitudes at FL380 is lethal. But I would guess that there is a lot of physical health involved in some of these lower altitude (below FL180 as a random number) failures. Remember that a few climbers have reached the summit of Mt. Everest at 29,000 ft. without oxygen. I climbed several times above 15,000 just last year (I'm 70) and have stayed overnight at altitudes around 12,000 ft. with no ill effects. So it makes me a bit skeptical to believe that some (not all) of the altitude involved in these tragedies is responsible for their deaths. How about narcolepsy, heart failure, or just plain fatigue combines with boredom?
With all the recent outrage and publicity, I think it would be an excellent opportunity for some airline to out-comfort the rest by advertising their seat spacing compared to the competition.
And, yes, 737's come in all lengths and all they do is cram more seats in. I'm convinced that all aircraft interior design engineers are 4'11" tall.
