Donald Neil (Letters, Flight International, 29 January - 4 February) is mistaken if he believes that airlines would attract passengers by offering more on board comfort in economy class.
In late 1973/early 1974, Thai International increased the seat pitch in economy to such an extent that my feet couldn't even touch the seat in front of me, and I am 1.94m (6ft 4in) tall. I made four trips in the Thai DC8 and never wanted to fly on any other carrier.
However, I must have been in a minority because no other airline followed suit, and Thai's seat pitch was soon decreased again to the sardine-like norm.
Sadly, economy class passengers want only the cheapest, and an airline can only offer this by packing in as many passengers as possible.
Ken Barry
Leuven, Belgium
Source: Flight International
