American Airlines is cutting more legroom in economy class

[Mr. Sparkle]

Source: CNN

Just when you thought your legroom in economy class couldn't get tighter. American Airlines (AAL) is planning to decrease the front-to-back space between some of its economy class seats by another two inches.

The airline says it plans to add more seats on its coming Boeing (BA) 737 Max jetliners. To do that, it will shrink the distance between seats, also known as pitch, from 31 inches to 29 inches on three rows of the airplane, and down to 30-inches in the rest of its main economy cabin. American isn't the only big airline heading in this direction. United Airlines (UAL) is considering a similar move, according to a person briefed on its evaluations. United declined to comment.

The move signals a new step in the shrinking of U.S. airline cabins, and comes even as carriers are promising to improve overall customer service. With the change, American will become the first large U.S. carrier to offer legroom with a pitch that's nearly on par with ultra-low cost carriers Spirit Airlines (SAVE) and Frontier Airlines. Those seats are an industry minimum 28-inches apart. By comparison, economy class pitch on Delta Air Lines (DAL) and United ranges between 30 and 31 inches, while JetBlue Airways (JBLU), Southwest Airlines (LUV) and Alaska Airlines (ALK) have between 31 and 33 inches.

Read more: http://money.cnn.com/2017/05/02/news/companies/american-airlines-legroom/

[lapfog_1]

1. Might as well go this way... it's where they are headed.

http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2896270.1481093581!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/box_620_330/image.jpg

[left-of-center2012]

2. And this is why I take Amtrak when available

It costs more; takes longer; but is more enjoyable to me.

[MurrayDelph]

17. It is definitely a contributing factor

for why my commutes between the northern Oregon coast and Los Angeles are by car.

And why my upcoming trip to Orlando will be a driving one as well.

[Yavin4]

3. Taking Greyhound is far more pleasurable than flying.

The lone exception is the shitty roads that the bus has to travel over.

[dhill926]

4. BY FAR the worst of the major airlines......

[Blue Idaho]

5. When do they start cutting off actual legs? nt.

[pangaia]

6. Don't give them any ideas

[NobodyHere]

7. I'm 5'3 and I feel cramped

I'd hate to be taller.

[spiderpig]

8. I have to make sure Mr. pig is in the adjacent seat

because if I want to retrieve something stowed under the seat in front of me, I have to lift the armrest and put my head on his lap to reach my bag.

I'm 5'4.

[LoveMyCali]

16. That's what I was thinking

I sat next to a very tall man on a flight from Ireland to New Jersey. His legs splayed out taking up half of my area and half of the seat on the other side (because of course if there is a giant in a row of three people you put him in the middle.) I wouldn't have been able to stand 2 inches less room.

[dalton99a]

9. Heck, just make the cattle stand up - so 1st class can lie down in comfort

[doc03]

10. I only have about 1 inch now and I am only 5' 10", if we would stand they could

cram even more in there.

[turbinetree]

11. This is why the 1978 deregulation of the industry and having only 7 major carriers now,

and basically having no competition among those 7 carriers when there use to be 115 back in 1978, there was competition.

Now the public is being rat f***.

The public has lost overall around 9 inches in leg room since this merger BS has occurred, and when someone gets on, or stands in line to get on a plane, look at the real time class of the haves and the have not's on being able to board, are you a platinum member, how about silver elite, or better yet scum, you get a middle seat that is cheaper.

[Stuckinthebush]

12. Yeah? What are you going to do about it?

Fly one of the other two? Ha! Go for it. They've worked it out so certain routes benefit certain airlines. Pay more for Delta or United if you wish. Go for it. Sure, that silly "no frills" airline is available but Southwest fares are higher than the big three in most cases.

Suck it up buttercup. This is crony, deregulation capitalism at its finest.

Yay. 'Merica

[EX500rider]

13. I sure noticed the difference...

Flew to Colombia on AA recently, the flight from TPA to MIA had what I consider normal OK room on the Boeing but the Airbus to Medellin was ridiculous, I had a 300lbs Venezuelan dude on one side and a 6'4" dude on the other, I sat the whole 3-1/2 hr flight sideways in on my seat, didn't have enough room to open my laptop. I had 1 and a half hand spans from my face to the seat back in front of me. I thought I never have a worse flight then my experiences on Air Uzbekistan, I was wrong..lol

[longship]

14. Fly American Airlines Knee-chewing class!!!! nt

[tclambert]

15. Whattaya need legs for if you're flying? Just cut 'em off and be done with it.

Passenger diagram for future airlines:





(Was that a step too far? It just seemed like where we're heading.)

[demosincebirth]

18. Sitting on our haunches is next

[RandiFan1290]

19. They are just preparing you for the new seats

[steve2470]

20. This is complete BS

When I'm in economy, I'm not expecting the luxury and comfort of first class, but come on! Some of us are taller than 4'10" and actually NEED leg room. I'm 6 feet 3 inches tall, and it's not easy sitting in the seats for hours.

Like someone else said, when are they going to force us to stand up ? Just complete BS.

[Valhallakey]

21. Just another step back to our normal state 1% vs 99%

For most of history there has been a few wealthy, small middle class and then masses of poor. This is just part of that move back to our normal state. 3/4 of the plane will be used as fully reclining thrones for the first class/business class passengers and they will stuff everyone else in the last 1/4 of the plane. They are also moving more towards two different boarding paths in some of the newer planes so that economy passengers don't disturb the 1st class/business class passengers when boarding.