I recently flew yet another non-upgraded AS transcon, but even having made my reservations three or four weeks out, there were no non-middle exit row seats left, so I spent five and a half hours unable to even think about opening up my (tiny) laptop. (I couldn't have used it in an exit row middle seat because there wouldn't have been room for my elbows to allow me to type.)
Now I see that DL has
announced they're expanding Economy Comfort fleet-wide on their mainline aircraft. That brings the list of airlines with such a section to:
DL: Economy Comfort
UA: Economy Plus
B6: Even More Space
VX: Main Cabin Select
Can we officially call this a trend now? Multiple airlines have run the numbers and concluded it's a net positive to their business to offer a section in the front of coach with more leg room -- and in the case of DL and UA, to offer seats in this section as a benefit to certain levels of elite travelers, while selling upgrades to others. This is my number one request for AS. In fact, it's my number one, two, and three requests, all rolled together.
As convenient as you are, AS, at some point I'm going to tire of never being upgraded on transcons (oh, those tantalizing Gold certs that never can be used on the flights for which you really want them), and of having only eight seats that aren't middle and that have leg room fit for a human being (especially one of my height), and I'll give up on you. I won't go away entirely; Mrs Seaflyguy and I will use our AS Visa companion fares for two trips a year, and I'll occasionally fly you up and down the coast. But my Gold days will be a thing of the past. If, though, you install a more leg room program like your competitors at DL, UA, B6, and VX, well, I'll make sure I keep my Gold status for years and years to come. And I presume I'm not the only one.
By the way, if you'd like an idea for how to have your cake and eat it, too, how about investigating the mesh seats that Lufthansa is
installing? If you installed them and kept the pitch where it is now, you'd get the equivalent of 34" throughout coach. If you reduced pitch behind the exit rows to the equivalent of 32" (what it is today), you could increase the pitch forward of the exit rows to the equivalent of 37". Or something like that.