Will social distancing force commercial airlines to create more elbow and leg room for passengers?

I have seen in my own industry such a decrease in travel -

It used to be I would be able to this annual conference in the industry - it was in great areas like florida or san diego. Then they changed it were 2 people could go each year and would alternate and then even that changed.

Now - business travel is very limited. In part my industry has cut costs to the bare minimum. Everywhere costs are cut - that is why more than half our company in the past 8- 10 years have moved to India, Poland and China ...

I would not encourage anyone going to college now to go into my industry as jobs will be at a minimum whereas when I graduated - it was such a growing industry - now we do not even have basic things like plants and even a desk - it is cut/cut/cut.

So we rarely see it.

I don't travel for business very often, but when I do it is quite valuable to my employer. I have worked for profit driven corporations for decades. They pay my salary because my work contributes to the corporate profits. This mutually beneficial arrangement is well understood.

In the past few years I have

- Traveled to a few conferences and presented at one. My company paid me a nice bonus in a public way when I presented because it was original work that benefited the company. They wanted to encourage other people to do the same.

- When I was working on software for Radiologists, they flew me to a hospital to work with Radiologists. I sat down with them, and then I spent a shift Radiologists to watch how they worked an interacted with software. This experience was interesting to me, but it was invaluable to my company.

- When I was working on software that was used in a warehouse, we had an unexplained problem that threatened to cost our customer hundreds of thousands of dollars. We weren't able to reproduce the problem on our end, so they flew me down to the warehouse to troubleshoot the problem. My present on site was worth a great deal of money to my employer.

Every time my employer has sent me on a work trip, they have to pay airfare (which can be a thousand dollars in itself), plus hotel (at $120 a night) and a car (at $35 dollars a day) plus up to $80 a day on an expense account (which I don't completely use).

Corporations care about their profits. They only take on these types of extra expenses when they know they will get more value in return.

The Airline Legroom Wars Rage On.

Published Sep 6, 2014

Feeling the squeeze in your airplane seat? Many US carriers are reducing seat pitch – the distance between your seat and the one in front. Here's a list of airlines with the most legroom, and those with the least.


Published Dec 13, 2019

We are still complaining about this?

Well, let me put it this way. It is my fault that there is so little leg room. If an airline offers me a $360 fare with 32" of leg room and a $300 fare with 28".... I am taking the cheaper fare every time. I figure that 2 hours with a little room is worth the extra money I can spend whereever I am going.

That is why I am against this thread. The people whining for more room are going to mess up cheap fares for the rest of us. If you want more room, either pay for it (or drive).

The airlines are giving customers what we have shown (by our behavior) that the vast majority of us want.

As a point of fact.

The price of air travel has fallen by almost 50% in the past 30 years (even including the increased fees). We are paying far less for plane tickets now then we did in 1980.

Customers are demanding low prices above all else.

How Southwest Airlines Continues To Make Money Almost 50 Years Later.

Somehow, Southwest Airlines has managed to not only provide reliable air travel at reasonable prices, but also earn a loyal following. And, they have been profitable for nearly 50 years running, and have one of the highest customer satisfaction ratings among carriers.

So what’s their secret formula? Since the start as Air Southwest back in 1967, Southwest Airlines has intentionally made a series of decisions built around simplicity. These seemingly insignificant, yet effective choices over the years have come together which have allowed them to become a major disruptor, which many other airlines have imitated.

Published Oct 10, 2019

This thread is complaining about seat size of commerical airlines. Southwest offers 31 to 32 inches of seat pitch except for the people sitting in exit rows.

United (my favorite airline) offers 30 to 31 inches (depending on the plane) for economy. You can pay a bit more to get economy plus for 34 to 37 inches of pitch, or even more for business class. I am a cardmember with a special status (which makes me feel good) meaning I get the extra room for free on most flights.

Southwest gives you 1 inch more for the cheapest seats, and no option to upgrade even for loyalty customers.

I will stick with United. I like having choices and I like being rewarded for loyalty. Fortunately there is competition in the industry so we all have options.

You can't whine about commercial aviation and then praise a commercial airline. You are weakening your own argument.

Southwest is my preferred airline.

Southwest is just another for-profit corporation trying to earn the biggest profit they can.

They have good service, but it is in the same league as other competing airlines. I believe they don't charge for baggage, which is probably a good marketing move. Other airlines are just as profitable while charging for luggage.

Yes that is one of the things that makes them stand out. You can bring two checked bags per person without extra cost. With most airlines charging $25 for the first bag and $35 for a second that is a difference of $60 each way (if you bring two).

Southwest makes it simple.

Not to mention just the fact that many people start getting upset at the nickel and diming of charges. I remember a bit ago traveling - as my daughter was traveling from college at the time she was on a different itinerary than the rest of us - for some reason she had a higher grade ticket than us so she was supposed to be able to carry on a bag (this would be over the personal item and yes some airlines now are not even letting you bring a carry on item besides what is deemed a personal item) - when she checked in they told her she had to pay and check the bag even though we were told otherwise.

We eventually got a refund for the price of the bag but had to fight it. These are the types of things that are annoying - policies that are not clear and even to those working for the airlines are not clear on what is allowed and not allowed as they change them even after you buy your tickets.

I get that, Linkat. Southwest has a target demographic that it serves very well. But don't ever expect a full meal while you fly.

Ironically, Southwest typifies the cost cutting that this thread talks about (although they do it better than most). I think you are old enough to remember when you were served a hot meal on every flight. Southwest ended that in the 1970s to cost costs and increase their profit, giving customers peanuts (literally peanuts) instead.

I was trying to see if Southwest was amoung the first airlines to cut seat sizes. I couldn't find data from the 1970s to say either way. I do know that Southwest was a pioneer in the practice of packing as many people into a flight as humanly possible to maximize their profits. They made sure that their airplanes were full.

Of course, Southwest is a profit driven corporation. They have changed their policies over the years to make as much profit as possible. Right now that includes free luggage.