American Airlines chief executive Doug Parker has thrown down the gauntlet to squashed economy class customers by declaring his airline will change its tight seats if enough people complain.
But that hadn’t happened, Parker told The Wall Street Journal, as he claimed American”hasn’t done anything that makes the main cabin less desirable than it was before”.
Parker and Delta chief executive Ed Bastian both agreed to be interviewed by the paper while sitting in economy class. United boss Oscar Munoz was invited to do likewise but declined.
Neither chief executive apologized for packing more seats into economy class and advised those passengers wanting more space to buy it.
After packing more passengers into uniform economy cabins while claiming new seat designs maintain “personal space”, airlines have worked out some passengers are prepared to pay extra to avoid the pain.
This has led to the introduction of “extra legroom seats” in economy cabins and for those with more wherewithal, separate premium economy cabins.
But the executives, both of whom are 6ft 3in, did pledge not to make economy seating any tighter.
Bastian said the Delta had settled on a seat pitch — the distance from one point on a seat to the same point on another — of 31 inches and would not be introducing any further seats with a 30-inch pitch.
The airline is also sticking with nine-abreast economy seating on its Boeing 777s that offers about an inch of extra width compared to American. But a 31-inch seat pitch will replace the 32-inch pitch currently available on some B777s when extra-legroom seating arrives.
American has 10-abreast seating and seats that are 17-inches wide but The Journal noted American was bringing in skinnier seats on some planes with a 30-inch seat pitch.
Parker said that was as low as American would go, despite an attempt by the airline to introduce a 29-inch seat pitch that was ditched after a backlash.
Squeezing economy “ is not something we will continue to push,” he said.
Consumer organizations attempted to get the US Federal Aviation Administration to rule against cramped seating but were unsuccessful.
READ: Seat crunch to live on after FAA rejects rule change.
