Forget small seat pitch or passengers reclining in to your space, if this one thing is missing it makes travel in economy unbearable.
So what is it? It's a missing stretchy seat pocket on the back of the seat in front of you.
Lets set the scene
You arrive to your allocated window or middle seat on a single aisle aircraft knowing full well you wont have the luxury to move around as you wish. With this in mind you sit down you set yourself up for 'staying put'.
You get out your phone, or tablet, a book, water bottle, ear phones and maybe some snacks and then stow your bag under the seat in front of you.
But there's no stretchy seat pocket.....so where do you put all this stuff? Yep, back in the bag.
The flight takes off, the person in front of you reclines (all be it minimally if you're on a low cost carrier) and then you have to somehow bend forward and get your things out one by one from your bag as you need them. Heaven help you need multiple things at once and have a zipper you need to negotiate all at the same time. Add darkness on a night flight to this and its just beyond frustrating.
This is one of those things that wont drive you mad until you actually have to endure it as I found out on my low cost carrier flight last week.
READ: FLYING IN COMFORT: EXPLORING THE AIRLINE WITH THE LARGEST ECONOMY SEATS
The lack of seat pocket is especially prevalent on low cost carriers where you have very minimal leg room, no in flight entertainment and a buy on board menu so naturally you will have brought more possessions with you for your journey.
Thankfully for the author the flight home had a seat pocket and it really did make a world of difference.
Why do airlines do this?
AirlineRatings Editor in Chief, Geoffrey Thomas states
'Quite simply they do this to save money. It's another element that needs to be manufactured and installed on to the seat as well as emptied out and cleaned. In addition to this the leg room is already largely compromised on low cost carriers so adding a seat pocket for you to 'stuff full' with only make this worse for many passengers.'
Conclusion
Forget about legroom or reclining passengers—the absence of a stretchy seat pocket in economy class turns travel into an unbearable ordeal, leaving passengers juggling their belongings in frustration. From phones to snacks, without a designated space, every item remains locked away in bags, complicating even the simplest tasks during the flight. This small amenity can make a world of difference in the overall comfort of the flight and we can only hope that airlines stop taking this away from economy passengers.
Have questions or want to share your thoughts?
