The future of airlines and low cost flights is a hot discussion at the moment, so this week it was great to be able to interview Matt Daimler, the founder of SeatGuru. I asked him about his thoughts on flight safety and the future of air travel.

Please introduce yourself and the role you play within SeatGuru?

Hi, I’m Matt Daimler, the founder of SeatGuru, a website I started in 2001 to help folks (and myself) get better seats on airplanes. Visitors to the website share their seat experiences using a review form, and we incorporate those reviews into the website weekly.

Today we cover over 45 airlines and 300 airplane configurations.

In your opinion is flying safer today than 10 or 20 years ago?

At a time in my life, I was what they call a “white knuckle flier” which means that I wasn’t entirely comfortable being in the air. Statistically, flying remains very safe, and I believe that overall the TSA (while annoying at times) has improved cabin safety.

But for me, what helped me feel safe on a plane was being able to listen to the pilots talk on Channel 9 while flying on United Airlines. It is very comforting to hear the pilots calmly report turbulence to the air traffic controller and search out smoother air.

Listening to them relaxes me and helps me remember how normal the bumps and thumps are.

What do you think the future is for low cost flights?

Current oil prices are making it hard to offer low costs, but more worrisome is that airlines have offset rising fuel prices by adding surcharges rather than just increasing the base fare. Flights that may have originally seemed to be “low cost” aren’t as cheap after you add the baggage fees, advanced seat selection fees, food charges, phone booking surcharge, etc.

For me, more than wishing for low fares to stick around, I really hope that the airlines that are focused on a more comfortable flying experience (like JetBlue’s extra legroom and satellite TV’s) make it through these tough times without having to reduce comfort or increase prices too much.

What tips would you give travellers searching for flights?

I remain surprised that many travelers think about flight comfort after they book their ticket. While price and schedule are essential to booking a flight, flight comfort (especially for longer flights) is important too. When I do a flight search, the first thing I look for is what airline and aircraft are flying to my destination.

I then compare things like seat pitch (legroom), seat width, and the availability of TV’s or laptop power ports using SeatGuru’s Comparison Charts (available on the left menu). Often times, I can get a more comfortable flight for the same cost.

Many booking engines will also show you real-time seat availability for a flight you are considering before you select it, so I will also use that feature to check to make sure that there aren’t just middle seats (or seats color-coded as poor seats on SeatGuru) remaining for the flight.

What’s your opinion of allowing mobile phones on flights?

It seems inevitable to me that we’ll have mobile phones on planes someday soon. While I personally enjoy the peace and quiet of 35,000 feet, I’m sure I can tolerate a blabbing seatmate with a good pair of noise cancelling headphones and my trusty iPod.

I would like to use the data and email functions of my phone in-flight however, and that certainly should be less bothersome to others onboard. Last year, I purchased an onboard internet service while flying on a 10-hour flight from Seattle to Copenhagen aboard SAS Airlines and was very pleased to keep up with email and surf the web during the long flight.

It would be great if my mobile allowed me to do that on every flight.

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