Scott Kirby, president of United Airlines, says passengers should expect to pay extra to be seated with their families, and offered a tough-talk response that may stir some blowback for the airline.
Asked by an interviewer for travel-industry site Skift about United seat selection policies that “make it tough for families to sit next to each other without paying extra fees,” such as for selecting seats in advance, Kirby replied:
“Look, when you go to a concert, do you think you should pay the same price to sit in the nosebleed seats or to sit up front? I don’t know why airlines are unique. Every other business that has something like that charges more for a better product. It’s a better product. You know it’s a better seat. I don’t know why airlines would be unique by offering lower prices for a lesser product. That’s what we do.”
It’s worth noting that the question and the issue are not about the price of seats, but only about the airline’s willingness to seat families together in seats they pay for without an extra fee to guarantee they are together. Kirby ignored that point altogether.
Kirby also compared airlines to hotel chains, which have different brands at different price points, and said that airlines can’t do that; they create different segments within the plane, with different prices and amenities. And yet, can you imagine a hotel charging extra for a request to have adjoining rooms? Or maybe we’d better not let them hear us say it!
Mr. Kirby just gave us all more reasons to fly Southwest airlines.
I love Mr Kirby’s comparison to booking a Hotel Room. I wonder who’s wife I’d be sharing with.