WestJet said Friday it is reversing its move to shrink the legroom in some rows of its economy cabins in order to add extra seats, following widespread backlash.
The airline said select flights that were recently reconfigured with the new seating arrangement will be changed again to remove the extra row of seats and “return to its prior standard seat pitch” for all economy rows.
WestJet said the reconfiguration, which was intended to roll out across all flights on its network, was intended to keep costs low.
“WestJet tried seat pitches that are popular with many airlines around the globe as they serve to provide affordable airfares,” WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech said in a statement.
“As an entrepreneurial airline founded on making air travel affordable to Canadians it’s in our DNA to try new products. At the same time, it is just as important to react quickly if they don’t meet the needs of our guests.”
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WestJet travel policy causes frustration
WestJet announced in September it would reconfigure the seating on 43 Boeing 737 jets to install an extra row and divide the cabin into more tiers.
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Twenty-one planes were given the new compressed configuration before the airline paused its rollout last month in order to collect guest and employee feedback on the changes.
A dozen of the 22 rows in the reconfigured planes’ economy class feature 28-inch pitch — the distance between the back of a seat and the same point on the seat in front — versus 29- or 30-inch pitches on most other carriers’ lower-tier seats. They also have what WestJet calls a “fixed recline design,” meaning they cannot be tilted back.
Some lower-cost airlines in the United States and Europe, such as Spirit and Ryanair, feature 28-inch seat pitches in select economy rows at a reduced cost while offering more legroom for higher prices — a model WestJet sought to emulate.
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No other large Canadian airline has 28-inch pitch seats.
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Backlash against WestJet grew after a video clip shared widely online appeared to show passengers pressed into the cramped seats aboard one of the reconfigured flights, complaining about difficulty straightening their knees in front of them.
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Customers and air industry experts have said the reduced legroom raises comfort and safety concerns. WestJet said the reconfiguration was approved by Transport Canada and had passed rigorous safety reviews, and did not respond to detailed questions from Global News earlier this week about health and safety concerns raised by critics of the change.
The airline said this week it was accelerating its review of the seating changes, which was originally set to conclude mid-February.
WestJet said Friday it wanted to “address feedback and provide clarity sooner.”
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“The move reflects the airline’s commitment to align product decisions with the needs of the guest, while continuing to invest in reliability, affordability, and a modern onboard experience,” it said.
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