jrl767

you don't get two triples of 18" seats, but as C W indicated, you can get a triple on one side and a double on the other ... the seat tracks can accommodate either

ecaarch

Years ago, when dating a DL employee, I first heard the term "Delta Miracle Flight". He told me that LGA-FLL flights would regularly board with 25 or 30 wheelchair passengers, yet when the plane arrived at FLL, every passenger walked off the plane. I am sure that most airline employees have many similar stories to share.

Widgets

If you want to pay for Comfort+ then by all means, but please don't assume that every traveler is willing or able to do that. I'm perfectly happy with 30-31 inch pitch. Why should some people pay for more than what they want?

jdrtravel

I do for comfort+. I hear everyone's point about forcing all fares to be higher. But what about the person who is 6'5" and can't afford C+, or the person who is larger and can't fit in a 17" seat? Or any number of other conditions that make a very cramped space difficult or totally unusable for certain people? There are two sides to that coin.

I'm also not sure that I buy the argument that the airlines would have to raise fares if they were all forced to add a little more pitch. This assumes that fare prices are tied to how much money the airline needs a particular flight to bring in. This is certainly one factor, but the market has many other factors. It may mean that airlines make less money. It is possible that they would remain profitable but not as profitable. I am arguing for some kind of sanity to stop them from squeezing every last dime out of us.

justhere

What makes you think that able-bodied passengers don't hold up other exiting passengers as much as, or sometimes more, than someone that preboarded? It's very demeaning and somewhat myopic to do what you suggest.

HDQDD

I was on a flight from ATL-DTW yday and a pre-boarder, who appeared to be fine, boarded with two tennis racquets hanging out of his backback...

Renes Points

Just to tossing it out there - anyone, yes, anyone can pre-board if they want to. They say anyone who needs a little extra time (or assistance). In the past ~200 flights I have one time boarded early to get some seat shots for the blog.

There may be any number of other reasons someone may need extra time and choose to pre-board and be 100% able to assist if needed.

DiverDave

^

In the past, Delta has offered Road Warrior Training courses which includes opening emergency exits. Some of us have done that.

http://www.easyvictor.org/

SpaceCoastBill

How do these people ever get anywhere in life then?

Sanitize the crosswalk button.... Sanitize the door handle to the restaurant... sanitize the seats in the Doctors Office waiting rooms.

Do they put their kids in a bubble to go to school?

It just seems that this has gone overboard. Dont eat or lick a peanut and carry your epi-pen.

They need to just do what AA did (it seems like a realistic solution):

Notably, American Airlines, which operates one of the largest fleets of planes in the world, does not even serve peanuts. But it does have a peanut policy, in which it states: “Requests that we not serve any particular foods, including tree nuts, on our flights cannot be granted. We are not able to provide nut ‘buffer zones,’ nor are we able to allow passengers to pre-board to wipe down seats and tray tables.”

“Ultimately we cannot guarantee customers will not be exposed to peanuts or other nuts during the flight, and allowing people with nut allergies to preboard can create a false sense of security and does not eliminate risk,”

Grog

After the fact, I knew I'd get called out for leaving out two words.

I'll amend it here:

My point: if the exit row needs to be deeper for safety, then all rows need to be deeper for safety.

DougSkymiles

Who decides if they are 100% able to assist? I would assume DL should decide that, and the simplest, and most efficient way of doing that is to exclude those that board under the guise of needing extra time and/or assistance getting on the plane. It's Delta's responsibility to see that they are doing everything to provide for the safety of all its passengers.

ATOBTTR

If you look at how some exit rows are set up, you'd see the full row doesn't "need" to be deeper for safety. Look at the "exit" rows on the 737-900. Row 19 is a standard exit row with extra pitch across the entire row. For Row 20/21, only 21A and 21F have extra legroom - the other seats in those rows have the standard pitch indicating that apparently the FAA believes it's okay for that standard pitch to be acceptable in an exit row. It's the point at which one exits through the window where there needs to be the extra space. So it appears the reason for the full row layout of having extra space is more of one of logistics and seat configuration rather than actually giving that extra space to the whole row to facilitate the exit.

flyerCO

AA, thus has been sued. Not the best example to use.

Zorak

Any increase in pitch in the exit row for safety reasons is to facilitate people EXITING the aircraft through those rows in an emergency, not to increase the safety of people while sitting in those rows. @:-)

zitsky

And what exactly happened to AA?