How Many Sardines Can Fit On An Airplane?

With fewer and fewer people willing to travel this year, due to the raise in fees and gas, airlines have been weeding out the least popular flight destinations; because of this, airlines have been packing the few number of  flights that they do offer to the brim, making passengers feel like sardines packed in a can!  Since the number of passengers per flight has increased the amount of space in the overhead bins has decreased! 

According to the New York Times, for the first three months this year, planes have been fuller than ever before. Last year at this time planes were only 76.8% full, and this year they are 77.2% full. It might not seem like a big difference, but when you are seated in the middle seat and having to fight over the arm rest, you will think it is a huge difference. If you want, you could pay extra to get a couple more inches of leg room or to get an aisle seat. U.S. Airways charge at least $5 to passengers who want to reserve an aisle seat, and JetBlue charges passengers $10 to $30 extra if they want to sit in a row that has more leg room. 

Since the airlines are packing their planes near full capacity, how will it effect passengers? Passengers will most likely feel added stress to their travel experience, and no one wants to start their vacation or business trip being stressed out. Not only will there be an effect on the passengers, there will be added pressure to the crew. The flight attendants and crew will be the ones who will have to deal with passenger complaints about personal space as well as the limited space in the overhead bins, and this will stress them out as well. 

These new fees along with the increased number of passengers per flight might not affect the personal or social traveler much, but it will affect business travelers since they usually have to fly frequently.  

How do you suppose the added number of passengers will effect your travel experience?