As WestJet weathers a wave of controversy after reducing the legroom for most economy seats on certain flights, it appears Air Canada is headed in the opposite direction — but only for those willing to pay extra.
Air Canada is reconfiguring certain aircraft to add more legroom to “premium and preferred seats,” a spokesperson for the airline said Thursday, although they did not specify which planes will be affected or when the changes might take place.
“As we have mentioned on the past several quarterly results calls, and has been reported across the industry, demand for premium travel is steady,” they said over email. “To accommodate this customer preference, we are reconfiguring certain aircraft to create additional premium and preferred seats with larger pitch, without affecting other economy customers.”
Their response follows a post by a sharp-eyed Redditor on Thursday, who noticed a row of ten seats missing in the forward section of the economy class for some Boeing 777-300ER jets operating in the coming months.
The user noted that, until April 30, the cabin (minus the first row) was being sold as standard seats. But beginning in May, the entire forward cabin will be sold as preferred seating.
Preferred seats are standard economy-class seats that offer extra legroom and certain other perks — for an extra fee. The service is free for Aeroplan Elite Members and travellers who bought Latitude or comfort fare, according to the airline.
It appears the distance between these reconfigured seats will be adjusted from 31 inches to 34 inches, according to a maintenance alert shared in the post’s comments by someone claiming to be an aircraft maintenance engineer for the airline.
The standard pitch for economy seating aboard Air Canada’s 777-300ER jets is 31 inches.
The same alert noted the last row of the forward cabin will have their ability to recline limited to 1.5 inches, as opposed to the standard five inches of recline in economy.
The Reddit poster did not immediately respond to questions.
Air Canada’s update comes days after a viral video showing off the newly reduced legroom on certain reconfigured WestJet flights caused backlash online.
WestJet has reconfigured 21 of its narrow-body planes, shrinking the distance between most economy seats from 30 inches down to 28 inches to fit a new row of seats in the back. The seats also boast a “fixed recline design,” meaning they can’t be tilted back.
Aviation experts and WestJet employees have expressed concerns over the safety of the new layout, with some touting the changes as discriminatory against taller travellers.
Even WestJet executives acknowledged “the seating configuration would present challenges” on longer trips, given the “limited comfort and mobility,” according to a union bulletin last November.
“At the same time, there was sentiment from WestJet leadership that, outside of longer flights, the configuration was generally acceptable.”
