Airline passengers feel that a move by Airbus, an aircraft manufacturer, to offer extra-wide seats on its A320 family of aircraft, is unfair, reports UK-based flight search engine, Skyscanner.
Previously, Airbus announced that it is considering the replacement of some of its standard A320 aircraft seats, measuring 18 inches wide, with new extra wide aisle seats that have a total width of 20 inches. The new seats will be offered in rows where regular seats will be reduced to a width of 17 inches.
Around 1,000 people have responded to s survey conducted by Skyscanner, and over three-quarters of them, or 84 percent, have reported that they feel that it is unfair to make passengers squeeze into a smaller seat so that the airline can benefit from the sale of more expensive, larger seats. Although none of the airlines that will be offering the bigger seats have announced a new price structure, a parallel can be drawn with how airlines have traditionally sold seats with extra legroom for a premium, so the assumption is that they will also be selling the extra wide seats at a premium price.
The survey has also highlighted that around 84 percent of passengers feel that the extra wide seats must be subject to an extra charge.
Sam Poullain, the spokesperson for Skyscanner, said, ‘The issue of charging more for bigger seats is a contentious issue as it gives airlines a financial incentive to reduce standard seat sizes. Airbus’ new extra-wide seat format is a clever way for airlines to generate more revenue, but it’s inevitable that some passengers will feel hard done by as they’ll be losing an inch from their seat widths.’
