
The Incredible Shrinking Plane Seat - jamesbritt
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304384104579141941949066648
======
pedalpete
The interesting thing I find here is the economics of this decision.

Using Air Canada 777 as an example from SeatGuru
[http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Air_Canada/Air_Canada_Boein...](http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Air_Canada/Air_Canada_Boeing_777-300ER_77W_new.php)

Adding the 9th seat per row results in an extra 43 seats per plane.

Factoring in only the economy section of the plane, there are 344 seats in the
8 seat configuration, 387 in the 9 seat.

Estimate a long-haul flight costs $1000, that makes an easy calculation of
$43,000 extra revenue for the airline. That is only an extra $125/seat in
revenue compared to the 8 seat configuration.

Apparently it costs 1 gallon of fuel/pound on domestic flights, so let's say
is 30% more on long haul flights and the average person including luggage
weighs 200lbs (170lbs for the person plus 30lbs luggage). Jet fuel is
currently $2.92/gallon, so let's say the airline buys it at a reduced rate of
$2.70, and our 30% brings us to $4.00 per person.

I'm guessing this is much of what airlines are doing with Premium Economy, but
you pay a $300+ ticket difference per seat, so for each row in Premium
Economy, the airline is making $1000 extra profit over the same row in
Economy.

------
pitchups
In addition to the seat-width, the other dimension that has been shrinking is
the seat pitch - the distance between rows of seats. Seat pitch, of course,
determines how much leg room you have, whether the seat in front of you hits
your knees. A low seat pitch can be extremely uncomfortable - and airlines
have been been squeezing seats closer. A seat pitch of 31" seems to be the
norm now among most major carriers, down from 32" or even 34" in the past.
Now, you have to pay extra to get Economy plus/premium seating to get the 1"
of extra leg room, that used to be the standard in the past.

