If you are not rich or on a business trip you fly economy.

Average size of people is growing all the time. Legroom in airplanes is rediculously short.

I think its time for improvements, even if ticket prizes are often at a minimum today.

For example: Why not offer some rows in longdistance-planes reserved for tall people over 1,80m? Why do you have to suffer when you are taller than 1,75m? Thats nothing but unfair.

What do you think?

One question that maybe someone can answer: Is there somewhere some information about what legroom airlines offer in economy compared to the competitors?

You are right! I am a little more than 1.80m and hate economy. But even wors than legroom is the width of the seats and the room for shoulders and arms; this ridiculous armrests. Sometimes I upgrade with my Qualiflyer miles (frequent flyer miles) to business class. After that I almost can't bear economy anymore.
I would prefere to pay little more for more room but not as much as in business, kind a class between business and eco. E.g. an Airbus with a 2-3-2 or a 777 with a 2-4-2 seating and a price between business and economy.

Good idea. They should create a "Super economy"-class, with 25% more legroom, 20% more width (and a moderately higher prize I would pay, not a rediculous 200% more like often in business). I know one or two airlines have that but I don´t know which. At least none flying from Germany.
For such an Super Economy ticket FRA-JFK I would gladly pay 900 DM ($440) instead of 700 DM ($340) right now for the average "wooden" class.

Both Virign Atlantic and EVA Air have such a class. The Virgin class is called "Premium Economy" and features wider seats and more legroom. The layout is 2-4-2 on the main deck of its 747-200s, 2-3-2 on its A340s and 2-2 on the upper deck of its 747-400s (behind the door). The pitch is, I believe, around 36 inches. The food is the same as standard economy, with, so I'm told, fresh fruit and champaigne before departure. British Airways is launching a similar product (it might already be operational on the JFK-LHR route).

I will be flying Virgin's Premium Economy in three weeks and will, of course, provide a detailed trip report.

I flew on EVA Air's "evergreen deluxe" class from Singapore to New York about 2 years ago and absolutely loved it.

The seat pitch was 38 inches and every seat gets a PTV. The food was pretty good too, but I believe that it was normal economy food. The layout of the "evergree deluxe" class on EVA's 747-400s is 2-4-2, and the seats were very comfortable, as, besides having a seat pitch about 5 inches longer than normal economy, they also had proper leg and foot rests.

The best part of it all, the cost of the extra creature comforts was only about US$170 more than the normal economy fare! Fantastic.

I agree that the economy product offered by most airlines are totally inadequate in terms of comfort, but I'm very heartened by the fact that more and more airlines, such as BA and AA are beginning to realise this and are offering a fourth class on their long-range airplanes. Long live super-economy!

I fly the "evergreen deluxe" class all the time. Once I got used to it, it's impossible to go back to normal economy seat pitch. This class is listed as Y for BR (travel agents told my mom BR's coach goes by another letter altogether).

On top of legroom, BR will assign seats ahead of check-in (they dont do this for economy), give you 5kg extra luggage allowance (where weight applies), and supposed an extra item on top of economy class food. I get the feeling BR copied VS, but it's been very popular since the 1992/93 introduction. I'm not that fond of BR as a carrier, but ah, legroom!

P.S. I dont know if anyone's posted this, but BR will begin Taipei-Haneda service in August or September on MD11s.

I think it's TWA or someother airline that if your part of their frequent flyer program and reach a certain milage you can sit in the first few rows of the plane that the airline has made more leg room. I'm not sure which airline does this, but I know it's out there.  

I've seen that economy-class legroom for Air Canada and Canadian Airlines aren't bad at all, even in the older 737-200s operated by Canadian, which are OK. Even the legroom in WestJet's 737s are okay, but not that great. I'm about 5 feet 9 inches, or about 1.75m in height, and a bit thin, so even the legroom in the 732s and the DC-9s (operated by Air Canada) don't bother me at all, with one exception - the Fokker F28! Canadian Regional flies those planes, and the economy legroom is terrible - my knees were really pressing against the seat in front of me, so the pitch must've been less than 30 inches. There was no way I could reach for my baggage under the seat without having to stand up. Even a Dash 8 turboprop is more comfortable than an F28!

It's a great thing to see that some airlines are starting to improve legroom in many of their planes, mostly putting in a fourth class, such as United's Economy Plus. Other airlines include EVA, BA, and Virgin Atlantic. AA has gone a step further by improving the legroom in all economy class seats. Any other airlines out there that are improving legroom in their economy class?

other than the legroom(which i shouldn't complain because I fly AA all the time) is that the seat itself is usually smaller than the person sitting in it, I think airlines should make the back rest's on the seats a little taller for taller people but hey-at least airlines are recognizing it.
blink182

Obviously there's MEX and Legend. National also has seats with 32"-33" pitch in economy, and 40" in First. Panam has a 36" pitch on their planes.

Just checked Virgin´s nice website for having a look at Economy/Premium economy. They must be kidding over there!
Premium Economy is not Economy, it´s a kind of business class, at least when looking at their price! Take this: London-Boston, economy: 686 pounds for two, premium economy (what a wrong word here) is more than THREE TIMES AS MUCH: 2254 pounds for two!
So Virgins upmarket "economy" class is definetely nothing for normal people like me and 90 % of all other travelers.
At least it´s not what I meant when starting this topic! I want 25% more space for 25% more money.

At this price Virgin must be offering "Veuve Cliquot Grand Cru"-champagne ´til you´re drunk and a selection of Bordeaux wines from 1959!