Airlines find another fee to charge in leg space
Airlines find another fee to charge in leg space
- October 24, 2012
- Jan Brueckner, economics professor and department chair, is quoted in the Daily Herald October 24, 2012
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From the Daily Herald:
Legroom on airplanes is going the way of free checked bags, pillows and in-flight
meals. Passengers who want a little more wiggle room in their coach seats better be
prepared to open their wallets. The trend for cash-strapped airlines is to charge
passengers extra to sit in a new category of roomier economy seats with names such
as Big Front Seat and Economy Plus. But where's this extra room coming from? Ask fliers
in the cheapest seats, who are now being packed closer together. "When I fly, I no
longer feel like a passenger; I feel like I'm cargo," said James Mewes, a retired
Palm Springs, Calif., lighting company executive. "The seats already do not have enough
padding. They have gotten narrower, and the legroom has become smaller."… What airlines
are doing is creating different tiers of products and price differential," said Jan
K. Brueckner, a University of California, Irvine economics professor. "They are just
trying to make money in a fiercely competitive business by parceling out the product
in this way."
For the full story, please visit http://www.heraldextra.com/business/transportation/aviation/airlines-fin....
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