Slow evacuation of American Airlines flight 2045 shows need for updated evacuation standards and minimum seat sizes, consumer groups say

The evacuation of American Airlines Flight 2045 on July 12 at the San Francisco International Airport took longer to complete than the federal standard of 90 seconds.

While only minor injuries were reported, delays in the evacuation created an unacceptable risk of major injuries or death for the passengers and crew, the National Consumers League, a consumer advocacy group, said in a statement.

“The FAA has the ability to reduce the risk of the chaos like what unfolded on Flight 2045,” said John Breyault, National Consumers League vice president of Public Policy, Telecommunications, and Fraud. “Passenger safety and a profitable airline industry are not mutually exclusive.”

For too long the agency has allowed the airline industry’s concerns about its bottom line to stand in the way of creating standards that lead to a safer cabin environment, Breyault said.

Evacuations over the past decade have consistently exceeded the FAA’s 90-second standard, he said. Evacuation standards were last updated in 2005 and since then, the in-cabin environment has changed substantially.

Despite these changes, the FAA has rejected or failed to act on 27 recommendations from the FAA Emergency Evacuation Standards Advisory Rulemaking Committee or those of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s inspector general, Breyault said. 

As a result, the American Economic Liberties Project, Consumer Action, the Consumer Federation of America, FlyersRights, the National Consumers League, Travelers United, and U.S. PIRG are calling on the FAA to address its antiquated safety regulations by:

Updating outdated evacuation standards. Current standards don’t reflect the modern cabin environment and don’t account for passengers of all ages and body types, record-high passenger load factors, the high use of personal electronic devices, the increased amount of carry-on baggage, or the cramped seating conditions of modern aircraft.

Establishing minimum passenger seat sizes. Despite receiving two mandates from Congress and more than 26,100 public comments on the issue, the FAA hasn’t set minimum dimensions for airplane seats. The shrinking of passenger seating has allowed carriers to increase the number of passengers without increasing the number of exits. In addition, the cramped seating poses a physical challenge to quick evacuation of the aircraft. 

“This serves as another example of why the FAA must look at this issue with the importance it deserves,” said Teresa Murray, consumer watchdog director for U.S. PIRG. “The recent evacuation tests relied on ‘able-bodied adult subjects under 60,’ the FAA acknowledged in 2022. “

This doesn’t reflect modern travel – planes filled with children, senior citizens, people with disabilities, and people who are heavy, Murray said.

“This issue must be prioritized before we have a tragedy,” he said.