Sit Tight

With airlines running at more than 80% of capacity, families have found it increasingly difficult to get seated together on flights. But one industry trend could help: more seats per plane. Airlines have been retrofitting their cabins with lighter, thinner slim-line seats that take up less space, creating room for more seats. The slim-line seats in new B-777s for instance, allow 10 across in the way back. Trendsetting long-haul carriers like Qatar Airlines are going nine across in the new 787 Dreamliner, according to Business Traveller. That’s one more than was originally configured, meaning dozens of additional seats. Air France was recently asking about $1,000 for round-trip tickets from New York City to Paris; 20 extra seats a day would produce more than $7 million annually at that price.

The trend is spreading to smaller aircraft. Take Allegiant, a discount carrier that flies from small, cold cities to big, warm ones–Scranton, Pa., to Orlando, for instance. Allegiant’s MD-80s are old, but the seats are new: Allegiant chucked the aircraft galleys and added ultra-slim-line seats that allow the carrier to get 166 passengers on a jet that previously fit 150. The retrofitted jet is 1,000 lb. lighter, offset by the 2,500 lb. to 3,000 lb. the extra passengers bring. Allegiant treats space as gold and passengers as logistical inputs. And well it should, since the company’s business model is driven by price-sensitive impulse travelers. It tries to run its jets 90% full to make its profit target. “It’s your dreams and our money,” says CEO Maurice Gallagher.

At Southwest, the company is retrofitting all its Boeing 737-700s with slim-line seats from B/E Aerospace, a leading seat manufacturer, in a program the airline calls Evolve. Adding one row of seats adds up. Southwest says it can generate about $200 million annually in fare revenue from the additional seats.

According to B/E Aerospace, using carbon fiber in place of metal can take about 10 lb. out of a coach seat and allow more contouring for comfort. Not only is the resulting seat and seat back thinner, but less padding is required because the frame isn’t as hard. “The other thing that resonates with people when you start to slim down: you can increase the living space. The passenger has a perceptible difference,” says Tom Plant, vice president and general manager of seating products for B/E Aerospace. Part of that perception comes from the fact that you are sitting farther back in the chair, and some airlines have changed the seat height slightly. “We feel that these seats are ergonomic and more comfortable,” says Southwest spokesman Paul Flanagan. But in Southwest’s typically candid style he points out, “It’s basically a wash from a legroom standpoint.” Customers may not care, given that the added seats across the industry mean that you have a greater chance of sitting with loved ones. As a family, you’ll be closer. In some cases, much closer.