superangrypenguin

That is a good point. As long as AC is making great profit, the Canadian government is incentivized, from a tax standpoint, to not step in.

agjil

Can we stop with the "you can pay more for preferred seats" talk?
A seat, regardless of how cheap it is, should not pose health risks, and one should not have to pay more to literally survive a flight.

Wpgjetse

Do they pose as a health risk?

mapleg

A little melodramatic isn't it?

How many tens of thousands of people fly every day of the year in economy and manage to "survive"?

Driving in a car poses health risks also.

montezume

Did you read the article?

Wpgjetse

Yes, and you can find a DR/expert to say anything these days. I would say there is a great health risk for pax just driving to the airport. Millions of people fly Y without problems, so if there is a health risk, it is very low.

rankourabu

Hopefully this guy and his lawyers find some good experts and take AC for a ride in a frivolous lawsuit with a nice settlement

In this country, we can only dispense justice vs greedy corporations one settlement at a time

CZAMFlyer

Small surcharge? I just did a dummy booking YVR-EZE on a 77W for a two-week trip next January. I tried a number of date combinations to ensure I was seeing a realistic fare. The smallest difference I could find between a Tango and PY fare was more than $1500 and purchasers are still sitting in Y on the domestic legs. I can certainly see why most people don't or can't pay for the increased seat pitch.

We have no idea how far in advance the guy in the article bought his fare, how much he paid or what his options were in terms of cost per seating class. But many people do not see the value in paying $75/hr for 6 additional inches of legroom.

Please don't try to dismiss the upgrade from Y to PY as merely anteing up a 'small surcharge'. That's rarely the case at all.

Addendum: just checked out the new YVR-BNE service. The return fare in economy is less than a single direction in PY. Same for Heathrow: the 'small surcharge' for a PY seat vs a back-of-the-bus seat is more than double. Admittedly, my selections are highly unscientific in nature, but that's fitting for a guy like me who doesn't grasp the concept of exponential growth.

YOWgary

Perhaps the better question is, when Y seats get down to 27" x 16" - and let's not pretend that's not happening eventually - what percentage of passengers have to be injured, and to what extent, before it does become a matter for airline regulators?

Wpgjetse

He better have a really great lawyer, because he will not be taking on AC, but every airline in the world.

Wpgjetse

That's a good question. But you can say that about anything in life.

HerpaYvr

After a great work out, I went to my favorite Tim's for a nice hot double/double, cracked open my tablet to read the news and I read the story and said OMFG, really.

I guess as a F/F we know better, but really. I have short legs because AC has smaller pitch, I should sue for that. After over 50 years of flying on Air Canada aircraft my legs are short because of these barbaric, inhuman, and unsafe seats, lol

My motivation for working out, loosing weight and getting healthy is so my butt can fit in Y seats when I no longer have status !!!! NOW that is taking charge and managing expectations!

YOWgary

Sure, but seeing as we're all here to discuss the airline industry, I thought I'd save my rants about tax policy for another venue.

superangrypenguin

Very well put.

Own your shi* (ownership) = what my junior school teacher taught me.

* = p.

Seriously. Society is getting more and more obese and airlines are equipping their aircraft with smaller and smaller seats in Y.

So either pay up, or exercise

ffsim

That's not even remotely funny.