Yea i think that is a large part of the problem, a kind of variation of the principle agent problem. Either your company forces you to take the cheapest option,

Yea i think that is a large part of the problem, a kind of variation of the principle agent problem. Either your company forces you to take the cheapest option, so you cannot take into account legroom, or your company doesn't care, and you don't either since it isn't your money, so the airlines can charge ridiculous markups for extra legroom. Google seems to have a good intermediate policy where you can keep money you save on one trip and use it for upgrades on future travel.