US Congress is looking to pass legislation making it illegal to squeeze passengers into small airline seats

More legroom could become the law

Airplane seats and legroom have shrunk since the 1970s (Getty Images)

US lawmakers are attempting to pass legislation that could make it illegal to squeeze passengers into small airline seats.

The House Transportation Committee has approved a bill which includes an amendment by Congressman Steve Cohen to establish minimum requirements for seat widths, lengths and pitch - the space between rows.

This is the third attempt in two years by Congress to set standards for cabin seating and spacing. The 2016 draft was thrown out, but in May this year Cohen introduced and the house passed the SEAT Act, a piece of legislation which also required the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA)to set down precise dimensions within passenger planes.

Cohen noteed that the average distance between rows of seats has dropped from 89 centimetres before airline deregulation in the 1970s, to an average of 78 centimetres today. Seats are smaller too, with the average width of an airline seat shrinking from 45 centimetres to 41 centimetres inches.

However this does not mean that you are about to get more legroom when you fly on US carriers. Seat standards will be set the FAA after a public consultation and regulators could say that sizes are adequate or decide that there is scope to shrink them further.

In a statement, Representative Cohen talked about the importance of standard seat dimensions in relation to the safety of airline passengers.

“Emergency evacuation is a serious issue, as is the potential for air rage as tensions mount inside more tightly packed cabins,” he said. “In addition, doctors have warned that deep vein thrombosis can afflict passengers who do not move their legs enough during longer flights.”

The amendment is part of a larger bill to reauthorise the FAA, who regulate civil aviation throughout the United States. The bill must be approved by September 30 or the entire organisation could shutdown.