The more I travel, the more I realize how much things have changed

Nowadays, people need more space to travel, as they are traveling with more things and flying longer distances. In the last five years, the number of flights exceeding 13 hours has increased by a staggering 70 percent. It is hard to imagine that in 1998, no flight over 7,000 nautical miles had ever even taken place. But in spite of the many advances in aircraft and cabin technology, airplane seats have gotten smaller, making all this increased air travel uncomfortable and inconvenient.

A few weeks ago, Airbus launched its Comfort Campaign. You may have noticed the witty ads saying “It’s not you, it’s the seat.” Our goal is to set a new standard for long-haul comfort, proposing an 18-inch (45.72cm) minimum seat width as the standard for future long haul economy air travel. The campaign is a result of new research into the impact seat width makes to levels of passenger comfort on board long haul economy flights. Conducted by the Harley Street’s London Sleep Centre, the study revealed that a minimum seat width of 18 inches improved passenger sleep quality by more than 50 percent when compared to the 1950’s 17-inch standard.

As a leading aircraft manufacturer, we developed the campaign to compel the rest of the industry to design aircraft with an 18-inch minimum requirement. While we understand that it is an airline’s choice to operate aircraft with seats that measure less than 18 inches, we felt it was necessary to share insights into what long-haul passengers want. It wasn’t surprising to me that seat comfort is now the most important criteria when booking a long distance flight in economy.

I have always found it curious that our growing waist lines and perspectives on personal space have encouraged other industries to rethink seat width. Automotive trends, for example, point toward larger cars year after year. In fact, we are seeing cars designed more spaciously and featuring special inputs for smart phones and tablets, video screens and other features to match the lifestyle of today’s passenger.

It wasn’t too long ago when flying was a luxurious and extremely comfortable experience. While I know times are different today, we have a great opportunity to set new standards and bring back some of the prestige our industry has lost along the way.

With more than 30 years in the aviation industry, Rafael Alonso is the Executive Vice President of Airbus Customer Affairs for the Latin America and the Caribbean region, responsible for all Airbus commercial activities and customer relations in more than 40 countries.