How Much Money Do Airlines Make by Squeezing in Extra Seats?
And is it worth the discomfort of their passengers?
He took a pause, sipped his beer, looked at me with all seriousness and said, “You’re going to die.” And then for emphasis, “You’re all going to die.”
Let me explain. In a November 4, 2022 article on CNN Travel the reporter measured the distance between coach seats in different airplanes. The problem is, the reporter pointed out, airline seats and the distance between rows of seats have gotten smaller over the years while Americans have grown larger. One budget airline he measured, from the back of the seat to the seat in front was 27 inches. As I wrote this, I measured the chair I sat in and it was 24 inches from the back of the seat to my kneecap. That gave me only three inches of wiggle room. And I’m not that tall relatively speaking. How much money are airlines making by adding in a row of extra seats, and is it worth the discomfort and agitation of their passengers? And more importantly, would the cramped seats impede evacuation in an emergency?
On a recent trip home I asked my brother, Dan, who just retired as the number one pilot (seniority-wise) at the number one airline (American), a question that had been bugging me for a while. You see, I am a frequent uncomfortable flyer. Uncomfortable not due to my fears of the plane crashing…
