Do you hate flying? It’s about to get worse. Airbus is introducing an 11-seat-wide configuration. The seats are 18" wide, which happens to be the average human shoulder width.
And yes, you will be seated between 2 burly linebacker-type guys.
Flying’s OK. It’s the sitting that wears on my ass.
I just measured my own shoulders (I have a tape measure in my desk drawer. I need it occasionally.) I’m 5’11", and somewhere around 180-190 lbs. Not exactly Andre the Giant. I have a 21" shoulder width, so I’d be encroaching on each of my neighbors by 1.5", even under the most ideal conditions.
Undoubted this configuration will be targeted toward a specialized market–and the OP seems not to have heard of Pygmies:
The A380 hasn’t proven very popular and I think this is an attempt at increasing its appeal to airlines.
Me too. It looks like I’m about 21" across the shoulders. I hope I get an aisle.
When the 380 first came out, a lot of people were really excited. I knew it just meant that they’d cram even more people into each plane. Imagine being in the middle seat of the middle row on an 11 hour flight and having to go to the bathroom.
No kidding. Increasing the seat count by 10% might not make a flight more profitable, if you have to lower prices to entice passengers to grind their shoulders into each other for the kind of long-haul flights these planes get used for.
Also, 10% more carryon luggage? Where is it all going to fit???
It’s no worse than having a window seat, i.e. either way you have to slip past two people to reach the aisle. Which is not a big deal if you’re flying with family or friends, but it’s considerably more awkward if you’re boxed in with a couple of strangers.
One time at Boeing in Seattle, I participated in a survey. They had us sit in seats and give opinions.
One set had to be this configuration, or worse. My shoulders went into both other seats! I think the end of the seat was about where my arm joins the torso. In effect, my entire arm was in each of the other seats.
I actually laughed at them. There was no way I could travel in those seats. Were they expecting entire flights of 5 foot, 100 lb people?
I wonder if Airbust did any research?
They haven’t really crammed more people onto the planes, not as much as they could have. As I remember, the predictions were that an all-economy class A380 could seat as many as 800 passengers, but the airlines never seemed to warm to the idea and the FAA discouraged or prohibited it, partly due to the question of how to evacuate a plane with that many passengers. Instead, there’s been a competition for more and more luxurious first- and business-class service, as that’s where the bulk of the money is.
Yes.
Of course. It always gets worse. “Enjoy” it now, because it’s better (that is, slightly less shitty) now than it will be at any time in the future. On the other hand, it’s worse (that is, even more shitty) than it has been at any time in the past.
I’m not much bigger then you, 6’1"+ and 200 pounds. I just looked at my shoulders and I’m at least 22", the first time I did it I was 24". I once flew on a smaller plane and had to turn my shoulders the entire time. That sucked.
Why don’t people call it third class?
First class = first class
Second class = “business” class
Third class = “economy” class.*
Perhaps people could learn to embrace their lack of dignity if the airlines were more straightforward.
*Two-and-a-halfth class = “premium economy” class
Or worse, a 350-lb woman who insists that you’re hurting her! by keeping your armrest down.
Did everyone miss the part where it states the new seats are the same width as the current seats?
My great aunt used to say that other than getting faster air travel has gone down hill since the Hindenburg. Granted she wasn’t on the flight that crashed so her only complaint was about the aluminium piano.
The OPs’ cite said that Southwest is adding seat room.
I generally like flying Southwest, but it’s weird. They don’t assign seats which means if you get in one of the last groups boarding you may not get to sit with your travel partner which sucks. You can help your odds by buying business Select and/or the early bird option, but eventually your $79 ticket inches up to several hundred dollars. 
On the plus side they are one of the only airlines to have non-stop destinations out of Milwaukee.
When we were grad students, my wife and i made a couple of flights where we didn’t get to sit together. Once from Baltimore to Chicago, and once all the way from Baltimore to San Francisco.
I live with my wife; we sleep in the same bed every night; we spend hours every day together. Also, even if i’m right next to her, my general strategy on planes is to zone out to music or read or take a nap.
You know what? A few hours spent 20 feet apart in different parts of a flying tube is not a big deal for either of us.
For me it’s not the time away from each other, it’s the forced intimacy with strangers if I have to sit next to one of them.
I don’t mind if my wife is 1/2 inch away from me, I’d prefer not have that experience with most of the other people on the plane, if I can avoid it.
Isn’t it $10 to get the priority seating? It was the last time I flew. Hardly adding several hundred dollars. Plus they don’t charge for checked bags.