Christopher Elliott has a rather silly piece that argues “Plane seats are too small: Airlines continue to prioritize profit over comfort, safety.”
I wonder if he knows that the U.S. airlines with the least space per passenger also generate the least profit? Spirit Airlines is in bankruptcy! Frontier Airlines is struggling. Airline margins overall are small, underperforming most industries even for the most profitable players.
Elliott complains that the FAA didn’t require more legroom on planes, using evacuation standards as an excuse. However,
- Fewer passengers on a plane means higher fares to break even. Airlines can pursue a premium strategy but then the complaint would be they are making airfares unaffordable.
- Outlawing tighter seat pitch by the way doesn’t improve things on United, Delta and American – it means outlawing the business models of Spirit and Frontier which drive down the price of travel not just on their own flights but also where they compete with United, Delta and American.
Most carriers now do both, offering more comfortable seats in addition to seats with less space, in order to appeal to different customer segments and price points. Frontier and Spirit are adding premium features while United et al have first class, extra legroom coach and even basic economy which is not just tighter seating but more restrictive policies. In other words, customers choose to buy the product they want.
American Airlines Extra Legroom Coach
Where there is a real point of complaint (but Elliott misses this) is when airlines don’t pay attention to the details of their product and it affects cabin comfort. For instance, American Airlines failed to build a mockup of their new domestic cabin before deploying it, and many mistakes were made that inconvenienced customers – from water that shot back at passengers in the lavatory to doors that banged into each other. And they screwed up first class, too the narrative that coach is an afterthought versus first was clearly wrong.
The then-CEO of the airline didn’t even try the product until.it was in the market for over six months. The message inside the company was clear: the details of the product and how customers experience them aren’t prioritized. Details matter a great deal when every inch comes at such a premium!
But that’s punished by the marketplace – as American has struggled financially compared to peers and their share price has lagged (even as it has come up from the bottom).
Delta Air Lines First Class
Personally I find many of United’s coach seats more uncomfortable than American, and Delta’s no better. In fact, Delta packs people so tightly into planes that American’s former CEO could claim (not quite correctly) that they had to attach flight attendant jumpseats to lavatory doors.
It often isn’t just the room but the padding! The products at United, especially, that date to the Jeff Smisek era and his so-called Project Quality to cut billions of dollars out of the operation, are disappointing. But many of those cuts were to first class at the time, too, for instance eliminating ketchup and garlic bread.
Different airlines employ different strategies, and customers have choices. If you want more choices for customers, though, there are better things to do than effectively outlawing the cheapest fares. Make airport slots and gates more competitive (for instance, congestion prices replaces takeoff and landing slots which are a subsidy to incumbent carriers) and welcoming foreign investment in U.S. carriers – let’s bring in Emirates and Ryanair both to compete.
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