Originally Posted by Greg45
One thing I would like to know is what happens in irregular ops. Are they really going to bump Y-passengers in case of overbooking, or leave passengers behind if other flights are cancelled? It will be tempting to fill the empty middle seats in these cases.
On the other hand, I would be pretty angry if I was bumped and the plane went out with empty seats.
What do you think?
I seem to remember that it was exactly this problem that led to the introduction of the flexible seating. When C class was introduced, all the European airlines jumped on the bandwagon and promised that the B & E seats would be unsold. The promise was watered down until it was 'where possible' which meant never and C class passengers revolted. Most airlines except AF introduced 5 abreast in C with flexible seats, KL introduced fixed seats - they've gone back to six and aren't even pretending they won't fill the middle ones.
Somehow I suspect that the brains behind this latest change were probably in nappies when it all happened the last time. What a pity they get to inflict their ideas on the paying passenger. If savings really need to be made perhaps the salaries budget should be targeted first!
After all, there is nothing wrong with keeping the five abreast configuration and just not selling the middle seat, that would be an improvement unlike the current retrograde step.