Safe Seats for All Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1866 To establish minimum dimensions for seats on passenger aircraft, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 7, 2023 Mr. BLUMENTHAL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To establish minimum dimensions for seats on passenger aircraft, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safe Seats for All 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. PASSENGER SEAT SIZING. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 423 of title 49, United 7 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 42304 8 the following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Jun 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1866.IS S1866 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1866 IS ‘‘§ 42305. Passenger seat sizing 1 ‘‘(a) MINIMUM DIMENSIONS OF PASSENGER 2 SEATS.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enact- 3 ment of this section, the Administrator of the Federal 4 Aviation Administration shall issue regulations to estab- 5 lish minimum dimensions for seats on passenger aircraft 6 (including dimensions for the size, width, length, and pitch 7 of seats), to ensure the safety and health of passengers, 8 including with respect to emergency evacuations, the abil- 9 ity of passengers to execute the brace position, and pas- 10 sengers with deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism. 11 ‘‘(b) INTERIM PROHIBITION ON SEAT REDUCTION.— 12 During the period beginning on the date of enactment of 13 this section and ending on the effective date of the regula- 14 tions issued under subsection (a), an air carrier or foreign 15 air carrier (as such terms are defined in section 40102) 16 may not reduce the size, width, length, or pitch of the 17 seats on any passenger aircraft of such carrier (including 18 with respect to the dimensions of seat shoulder width, 19 elbow width, the edge of the seat base to back of the seat 20 in front, the edge of the seat base to the headrest of seat 21 in front, foot clearance, and foot clearance envelope). 22 ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 23 tion shall be construed to prohibit an air carrier or foreign 24 air carrier from altering the seating configuration of an 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Jun 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1866.IS S1866 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1866 IS aircraft if such configuration does not reduce the number 1 of passenger seats in the economy class of service.’’. 2 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap- 3 ter 423 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 4 inserting after the item relating to section 42304 the fol- 5 lowing: 6 ‘‘42305. Passenger seat sizing.’’. (c) REPEAL OF 2018 MINIMUM DIMENSION PROVI- 7 SION.—Section 577 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 8 2018 (49 U.S.C. 42301 note prec.) is repealed. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Jun 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1866.IS S1866 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB