Washington (CNN) Flight attendants feel the pain of cramped aircraft seats, too.

"It is a torture chamber for our passengers and for us, that also fly on our own airlines," Lori Bassani, of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, or APFA, said during a congressional hearing Wednesday.

"We find that the seats are not only getting smaller, but there's no padding on them anymore," she said.

Bassani testified before a House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee hearing that smaller seats are not only uncomfortable but also a safety risk.

She called it "almost impossible" to exit some seating configurations in an emergency. Federal regulations require airplanes be capable of being evacuated in fewer than 90 seconds even if some exits are blocked.

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