Notes » March 2007

Cathay Pacific Sucks

Cathay Pacific sucks.

Why? Because they make no allowances for a person's height in their seat configurations.

On our trip to Brisbane, the airline used an Airbus A330 with seats packed so close together that my knees were jammed into the back of the seat in front. A metal box under the forward seat cut off any possibility that I'd be able to extend my legs. And when the passenger in front reclined, I barely had enough space to eat, read, or even get in or out of my seat.

Cathay Pacific makes no attempt to solve the problem, other than to allow advanced seat reservations for frequent flier members. Those of us who do not fly all the time are told to arrive early at the airport to request seat locations.

The problem is they never have any seats left in the exit row, the only place in Economy Class I can sit that allows me a measure of comfort, because frequent fliers book them all. And when I get a look at these people upon boarding the plane, most of them are shorter than 5' 6".

That pisses me off. I have nothing against small people (I married one, after all), but if you're five-foot-nothing, you don't need an exit row seat. Given the tendency of Asian carriers to cram as many seats as possible into their planes, exit rows should be reserved for people taller than six feet, period.

I complained to Cathay Pacific, but I'm not holding my breath for an understanding reply. I expect to receive the usual form-letter response with an insincere "we're sorry but that's the way we do things" so-called apology.

Thus confirming that it sucks.

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