Bad news for coach fliers who like to lean back in their airline seat: a popular North American carrier is eliminating the ability to recline economy seats on some of their planes.
Canadian airline WestJet is rolling out redesigned aircraft with a “fixed-recline” seat design in economy, which means the back of the seats will not be able to move.
The stationary seats will debut on the airline’s retrofitted Boeing 737-800 and 737-8 Max planes, which will start rolling out in November. The airline uses those jets to serve its 15 gateways in the US as well. WestJet says the lack of a recline function will help economy passengers “preserve personal space.”
It’s true that reclined seats have caused discord among passengers in recent years, sometimes leading to uncomfortable confrontations or even physical altercations between passengers.
The issue is hotly debated among frequent fliers. It’s a very active subject on travel sub-Reddits, with some economy passengers saying it’s ok to recline as long as it’s after meal service, and others preferring coach seats that can’t lean back at all.
“Yeah reclining seats are a remnant from when there was actually room between rows for people to do it without causing much issue for the person behind them,” said one Reddit user on the r/Travel thread.
“Frankly, given the lack of room in economy on most flights, the seats should not recline or only recline slightly. Would save a lot of hassle,” said another flier on Reddit.
As part of the refreshed aircraft interiors that include the locked-in-place economy seats, WestJet is also adding premium seats to the planes, which had previously been in service for the carrier as all-economy jets.
The new interiors will now offer 12 premium seats and 36 extra legroom seats. In order to book a seat that tilts backward on WestJet’s 737-800s and 737-8 Maxes, travelers will have to upgrade to one of the more premium options from standard economy.
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