USA TODAY: Disclose Airline Seat Sizes. “If it seems that airline seats are getting smaller, you’re not imagining it. Airlines have been shrinking seat width and legroom to let them cram more seats into planes and sell more tickets. And it’s working. Airline profits are at record levels, but so too, it seems, are passenger crowding and discontent. Back before airlines were deregulated in 1978, seats were wider and had more legroom; average seat pitch (a proxy for legroom) in coach has shortened from about 35 inches to about 31 inches. Average seat width has narrowed from about 18 inches to 17 inches or less.”