Originally Posted by
johnden
I can live without entertainment, I can live with long bathroom lines (time to stand is good for circulation), and I can live with knee-crushing seats.
However, slimline/lower/shorter seats combined with weak/non-existent cushioning is a killer. It makes the entire experience painful instead of "just uncomfortable".
There are still a lot of airlines (including pmUA) that pay a little more for extra cushioning. Why the move toward park-bench-like seats? I get that they save a little money, but I don't think it is that much. Do passengers really not care at all about seat cushioning and form? Or maybe some airlines, including the new UA, really don't think about comfort at all?
pmCO even skimped on padding in the BusinessFirst cabins (compared to pmUA), no excuse for that. Who would intentionally pick/design a J seat that is less comfortable than it could be to save a few dollars? Not talking about density here, just an extra cm of padding. So little to ask.
For example, imagine if your employer tried to save $10 by ordering less padding for a $200 office chair that caused back-aches for all of the staff. Why would an airline do this in a premium cabin?
Why would an airline make more and more economy seats slimline? I think part of it is that most of the current non-elite travelling public have low standards and really do not demand a level of cushioning. I call it the "point A to point B" mentality" where a lot people view the function of air travel as solely to transport them to where they want to go and with no care about the comfort, entertainment and service. Therefore, airlines like UA can get away with it.
It is only a matter of time where this slimline design is the standard among the big 4 no matter what the age of the plane is. This is revenue motivated to get elites who demand comfort to simply start buying more premium tickets out of frustration that their desire for a minimum standard of comfort is no longer being met. In this way an elite does not have to play the upgrade game and gets their seat of choice confirmed at the time of purchase.