The solution is to create a new class of travel with a significant discount. Anesthetize those travelers and stack them like cord wood. That would increase the load factor and the profits to the point adjusting the distances between rows wouldn’t be the big deal in the anything for a buck airline industry.
The answer is in the packaging.
Pumping nitrous oxide into the economy class cabin would solve everything, even hijackings. Lets call it nitrous class flying. I’m in, I hate flying and drink myself silly whenever I do. Nitrous is a better solution.