December 31, 2025 | 01:40 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Legroom, or the seat pitch, has become a major concern for travelers around the world. While some are fortunate enough to have spacious legroom on their flights, others have to deal with their knees almost touching the seat in front of them. The size of legroom varies greatly depending on the airline.
Some low-cost airlines offer legroom of only around 28 inches or approximately 71 centimeters, while passengers in premium economy class often enjoy around 34 to 38 inches or about 86 to 96 centimeters of legroom.
Airlines with Worst Legroom
According to Daily Mail, a recent study revealed the airlines that receive the most complaints about cramped seating. Researchers at OddsMonkey analyzed nearly one million TripAdvisor reviews of 20 airlines that carried the highest number of passengers at all reporting airports in the UK.
The study focused on one- and two-star TripAdvisor reviews and specifically gathered negative comments about 'legroom' to identify where passengers are most dissatisfied with the space inside the aircraft.
British Airways topped the list as the airline with the most complaints about legroom. 52.6 percent of the reviews related to legroom were negative. This means that more than half of the passengers who mentioned legroom described it as poor.
"The seat was so stiff and the legroom was non-existent," wrote one British Airways reviewer, as cited by The Sun. Other reviews echoed similar criticisms about the space inside the aircraft.
“After retirement, I decided to take a few business class trips across the Middle Eat and Asia. British Airways was not only the worst, but it was also false advertising to call it business class,” wrote a reviewer.
“The seats were the same as economy seats with other passengers close in front and behind, and no legroom," wrote another.
Coming in second is Ryanair, with 51.4 percent of the comments about legroom being negative. Following closely are other major North American carriers - United Airlines with 47.2 percent, American Airlines with 43.8 percent, and Air Canada with 42.1 percent - on the list of airlines receiving the most complaints about cramped seating.
The study also revealed airlines that outperform the others, such as SunExpress. The airline received the highest score, with only 6.4 percent of the legroom reviews being negative. Jet2 also performed well, ranking second, with only 12 percent of the legroom reviews being negative.
The gap between the best and worst airlines is significant, ranging from only six percent of feedback complaining about legroom to over 50 percent per 1,000 reviews.
List of Airlines with the Worst Legroom
Here is the list of airlines with the worst legroom, based on the highest percentage of negative legroom complaints:
1. British Airways 52.6%
2. Ryanair 51.4%
3. United Airlines 47.2%
4. American Airlines 43.8%
5. Air Canada 42.1%
6. TUI Airways 38.8%
7. Lufthansa 32.2%
8. easyJet 28.9%
9. Delta Airlines 27.5%
10. Turkish Airlines 25.1%
11. Virgin Atlantic 24.0%
12. KLM 23.8%
13. Qatar Airways 23.1%
14. Wizz Air 23.0%
15. Emirates 22.9%
16. Air France 22.3%
17. Vueling 15.5%
18. Aer Lingus 14.3%
19. Jet2 12.0%
20. SunExpress 6.4%
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