Senator Charles Schumer (D-New York) recently announced that he planned to introduce an amendment to the FAA Reauthorization Bill mandating minimum sizes for aircraft seat width and pitch (the distance between rows). In February, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tennessee) proposed a similar measure. As someone who has worked in and near the airline industry since 1984, my first reaction was “this is classic Capitol Hill silliness.” Taking a closer look, the proposals reflect four shortcomings about how legislators and others in Washington look at commercial aviation.