When the New York Times printed this cartoon a few years ago, the trend was just beginning. Squeeze in more has become the order of the day, with extra space to be had only at a premium price.
And the squeeze goes in both directions. Not only are some airlines shrinking “pitch” (the distance between a given point on one seat and the same point on the seat in front of it), they are also shrinking seat width, even as passengers, on average, are getting wider. Hey, anyone here remember back in 2000 when American fueled a big rise in favorable publicity by taking out two rows and advertising “More Room in Coach?” It seems the new slogan is “Pay Up for More Room in Coach.”
Some of the latest include EasyJet’s just announced plan to bump its Airbus A320s from 180 seats to 186 on planes set to be delivered (that’s two extra rows to be fitted in). And it will go back and install the extra seats in its existing planes. Still 18″ seat width, but perhaps going from 29″ pitch to 28.”
Try out this quote, from Airbus: “We are supporting the higher seat count with intelligent means to give living space to passengers.” In other words, you can still breathe. And it’s not the only plane where it’s happening. Airbus started offering a version last summer with 189 seats, and has added 20 more seats in A321s, bringing that up to 240.
Vueling and Wizz Air are among the carriers opting for squeezing in more, if not in all cases the maximum. And never to be left behind in the squeeze for profits, Ryanair has a move of its own. It’s buying 100 of Boeing’s newest 737 MAX 200, designed for 189 seats—but arranged for Boeing to equip it with 200!
