Italy stops British Airways flights from taking off because plane seats were too comfortable
The Italian government on Monday suspended the departure of a British Airways flight from Milan to London Heathrow, citing too much padding in passenger seat cushions.
The country’s aviation authority conducted a surprise inspection of a BA flight at Milan’s Linate Airport and found that the seats near the upper wing of the Airbus A320neo had incorrect seat cushions. It was too thick.
- Exit rows of aircraft typically have more legroom to provide more space for rapid evacuation of the aircraft.
- The seat cushions may also be less noticeable in this row. The aircraft was supposed to be equipped with these improved cushions, but they were not.
In order for the BA flight to be allowed to depart, we needed to find a smaller seat cushion for that row. Linate is not BA’s maintenance hub (airlines sometimes keep extra seat cushions in their field offices, but BA didn’t have these on hand).
The plane was sold out. It was not possible to completely remove the seat cushion without hitting the passenger. So here’s what they did.
- Some seats on the plane were supposed to have extra cushions, but it turns out they didn’t. The passengers were being hosed down!
- They asked everyone to look at the cushions on their seats. They needed to check the serial number. So they found a small cushion that they could replace with the one at the exit.
As it turned out, they were able to resolve the issue with just an hour’s delay.
@slimventures Part 1 – Unannounced inspections by aviation authorities in Milan nearly ground British Airways to LHR. #Aviation #Airbus #Britishhairway #Milan ♬ Original song – Slim
@slimventures Part 2 – Unannounced inspections by aviation authorities in Milan nearly ground British Airways to LHR. #Aviation #Airbus #Britishhairway #Milan ♬ Original song – Slim
This is not the first time the government has opposed making air travel more comfortable. Although it wasn’t for safety in America these days. The U.S. government has filed a lawsuit to stop Spirit Airlines from making its planes more comfortable. And they won. JetBlue bought Spirit, stripped out the interior, and planned to add seats with more legroom, seat-back TVs and free internet. The Justice Department objected, saying fewer seats would mean higher prices and a loss of Spirit Airlines’ business model. They have chosen to maintain the supply chain of this important material even for late-night comics.
By default, the U.S. government prohibits doors on business class seats, so airlines must apply for an exemption from this rule to install doors.