At the meeting, taking place from June 7 to 10, Frits R Rosendaal, hematologist at Leiden University in the Netherlands said that while the overall risk for travellers was still low the risk factors must not be neglected.

“The risk of developing thrombosis when travelling are higher for people with certain common abnormalities in the blood, for women who use birth control pills, or people who use sleeping pills on a flight, as well as people who are very tall, very short or overweight.”

In those cases a 50 to 100-fold increase in risk for people with combinations of those factors was possible, he added. Lack of movement and the cramped seating in economy class are regarded as the main factors for developing traveller’s thrombosis. Low cabin pressure may add to the risks, experts said.

The study surveyed 2,000 persons suffering from thrombosis in addition to 9,000 frequent flyers. One conclusion was that in the eight weeks after a flight of more than four hours, thrombosis risk increased two to threefold, with one in 4,500 travellers developing thrombosis.

“A Daily Telegraph reader unable to fit into a seat on a Virgin Atlantic flight from London to Miami has received an out-of-court settlement after suing the airline for failing to provide “adequate seating”.

Michael Downey, 56, a businessman from Wendover, Buckinghamshire, could not accommodate his 6ft 3in frame into an economy seat on a 10-hour flight to Miami in May.

“My legs had to go sideways and unsafely into the aisle,” he said.

“The cabin purser said that the seat pitch [the distance between seatbacks] was only 30 inches, but refused to do anything about it.

“I was unaware that each time I had booked on Virgin I was effectively entering a seat-pitch lottery. At no point was I told – at booking, check-in or boarding – that the seat pitch would be 30 inches, as opposed to the 31 inches or 32 inches on other flights.”

The case was presented at Aylesbury County Court to District Judge Hickman, who ruled that the claim should proceed to trial “on the basis of an implied term that ‘adequate seating’ will be provided”.

He demanded that copies of any complaints about seating arrangements received by Virgin Atlantic should be made available to the defendant.

The airline admits that its seat pitches vary between 30in and 32in.

“Anyone over six feet tall is going to find the 30-inch seat very uncomfortable for a long flight, and those of my height will find it impossible,” said Mr Downey. “Tall people should be warned about the extreme discomfort they face if they lose out in the lottery.”

Following the hearing, Virgin offered to pay Mr Downey £300 plus £30 court fees “as a gesture of goodwill and without admission of liability”.

A spokeswoman for Virgin said that the airline’s seat pitches adhere to all industry standards.

“Virgin Atlantic operates a number of different aircraft types and configurations, but all seat pitches are above the regulatory minimum set by the Civil Aviation Authority,” she said.

“It is not possible to confirm to passengers at the time of booking what their exact seat pitch will be, as it is dependent on where they are seated and the aircraft type they are travelling on. Virgin Atlantic explains clearly on its website about the size of seat pitch in the economy cabin and receives very few complaints on this issue.”

Simon Evans, of the Air Transport Users Council, said that Virgin may now be concerned about copycat claims. “The biggest fear for Virgin, as it would be for any airline, is that this claim could become a test case for others to launch similar litigation,” he said.

On budget airlines, such as EasyJet and Ryanair, seat pitches measure 29in or 30in. On other scheduled airlines, they are often more generous: 31in on British Airways, 32in on BMI and Emirates, 33in on Thai Airways and Air China, 34in on Air New Zealand and American Airlines.

“You can put up with a small seat-pitch on a short-haul flight, but not for 10 hours,” Mr Downey said.

Virgin, however, claimed that its seat pitches compared favourably with those of other airlines. “Almost 90 per cent of seats are at 31 inches or above,” the spokeswoman said. “Our seat pitch is in line with that of British Airways’ – also 31 inches – and well above those of charter operators.”

Long periods of inactivity in cramped accommodation such as aircraft seats have been linked with deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) – a condition that causes potentially fatal blood clots.”

For more information look at this related entry.

You have no legal right as a tall person to demand a seat that is big enough for you to sit in.

In the industry they refer to the space available to you as the Seat Pitch
It is defined as ‘The distance measured between a seat back and the seat back in front of it’. The Average is about 32 inches. BA and Virgin have 31 inches in economy class. This means anyone with an inside leg measurement of longer than about 33 inches will not fit in that seat. On average this effects those 6ft 1 and above.

Recently a Not Much Fits hero, Donovan Winter took BA to court. Have a look.
Donovan claimed that by putting him in a cramped seat “they were placing me in danger of getting deep vein thrombosis, a condition which has been linked with sitting for prolonged periods in cramped airline seats.” Donovan lost the case.

BA said, “the company’s policy regarding tall people was to recommend they upgraded to a better cabin class.”

That’s all very well, but most tall people can’t afford to pay an extra 50% on price, just for the right to be able to sit comfortably and safely in a seat big enough for them. I wonder why airlines have a height restriction for employing cabin crew? Space is limited in badly designed planes; tall people find their legs being crushed by the seat in front of them.

You have to ask yourself, if a 5ft 6″ person was put in a seat that was only big enough for someone who was 5ft tall, would they be prepared to sit in it?

The Solution
Since this problem is really more concerned by leg length rather than height, the answer could be to measure leg length at check-In. Any Man or Woman with an inside leg measurement greater than say 34 inches would be automatically assigned to a “better cabin class.” It might sound silly but it could be done fairly easily by declaring your leg length at check in. Any disputes could be settled by having a board next to the check in desk, that travellers stand against. If their legs come above that point, they are eligible.

Do you have a better solution? Then post it, comments welcome.

Alternatively why not let you feelings be known to BA. Its time to take some action, if we concentrate on putting pressure on one airline, I think we might have more success. So why not email them.