Stadiums charge more for better seats; why shouldn't airlines?

— -- Airlines are squeezing more — and thinner — seats into their economy-class sections, reducing the space between seats at the back of economy, and adding more legroom — for a fee — at the front of economy.

It's all about saving fuel (thinner seats weigh less), squeezing more seats onto each flight (more revenue per flight), and enticing passengers to pay for the roomier seats closer to the exit (again, more revenue).

Depending on who you are and how you look at it, this is just another outrage imposed upon passengers, or entirely fair.

After all, when you buy a seat to a sporting event or a Broadway show, seats are priced depending on how close they are to the stage. If you equate seats at the front of the economy section to seats closer to the action, then it certainly makes sense to charge more for them. Seats nearer the front allow you to get off first, and give you first crack at the overhead bins. So why shouldn't they cost more? That's the airlines' reasoning.

And while those in the back of the plane might argue that they're getting less for more money, while the "less" part is certainly true, the more money part isn't. Sure, back in the good old days (let's say 1956), airplane seats on those lumbering Lockheed Constellations and DC-7's were as padded as a La-Z-Boy. Now they're hard as church pews. I'm not sure that statistics exist to show how much legroom they had back then, but they sure were more comfortable. But airfares were much higher. I just saw a fare from Raleigh to Los Angeles on Delta for $220 round-trip including tax; New York to San Francisco in 1959, when airlines consistently made a profit and paid their flight attendants a living wage, cost $239 round-trip. That's $1866.28 in 2012 dollars according to DollarTimes.com.

Now, airlines argue that their new thinner seats actually give you just as much knee room, even though they're spacing the seats closer together in order to jam more passengers on each flight. This may be true, but those seats! I can sit in them for about two hours before pain starts shooting down my legs and I begin squirming like I have ants in my pants. And the rotten thing is that even the "more legroom" seats at the front of economy are just as hard and thin.

So if you want padding, you'll have to bring your own. The skwoosh gel-filled travel cushion by ($29.99) claims to relieve pressure on your travel-weary posterior, although it's just one more thing to cram into your carryon. Or do what I do: Save up those frequent flier miles earned by shopping online and by signing up for airline credit cards, and use them to upgrade. Many airlines, such as United and American, allow you to use miles -- usually 15,000 each way -- to upgrade from the lowest coach fares (when available) to business class, where you'll still find comfortably padded seats. At this point, anything is worth a try.

George Hobica is the founder of Airfarewatchdog.com. Airfarewatchdog features the best airfares on thousands of routes verified by a team of expert fare analysts.