Why does an airline block seats??
 

Hi,

I've been looking at some random flight searches using ExpertFlyer and I regularly come across airlines which state seats are unavailable yet when I look into it further there appears to be rows and rows of seats blocked out by the airline. Why do they do this. They dont appear to be occupied by passengers. Is it a tactic to see how full the flight may become then the airline may release seats slowly? Im baffled how this happens?

Also, apologies if I have posted in the wrong forum :)

Weight and balance, keeping seats back so Families can be seated together, tonnes of other reasons.

Revenue

It could also be for high status passengers that belong to their frequent flyer programme.

H

I presume you're looking at the "X"ed out seats and are not referring to the seats that are being held back for elite/priority passengers.

+1 to what BLHD said. I'm only more familiar with AA's policies/practices, but rows of seats towards the front and back are normally blocked to:
- rebalance the plane as needed
- accommodate families that may end up separated (i.e. only middle seats scattered throughout the plane are available; instead of having to play musical chairs, gate agent can seat parent(s) and child(ren) next to each other.)
- accommodate passengers with mobility issues (a seat towards front of the cabin would assist that passenger and ensure that the entire boarding/deplaning process is not held up by one passenger)

Unaccompanied minors. Basinettes. Crew rest.

SQ blocks out several rows eg. 33-35 at the front of long haul flights which are only selectable by frequent flyers.

Whether I go on an airline's website or on a travel site like Expedia it seems to be the same story when checking on the availability of seats. Since I travel with my wife alone we like to get two seats that are separate from other seats. On the B777 and B747 aircraft the configuration is usually 3-4-3. However there are about 6 to 12 sets of seats that are only 2 each where the fuselage narrows near the back of the aircraft. No matter how many months in advance that one checks I have never seen these seats available to be chosen on line. I am wondering if I go to a local travel agency if they would have access to those seats. Or do the airlines just routinely block certain seats? :rolleyes:

Union rules for the crew..

There is also something else that I remember happening. Four of us booked and paid for travel on Singapore Airlines JFK to Bangkok via Singapore. It was an A380 aircraft. WE booked 2 months in advance. However, we were not able to choose our seats and, in fact, even the airline did not give us seats that we paid for. Calls to Singapore customer service kept telling me not to worry that seats would be available by flight time. However, that was not the problem. We wanted seats so that all 4 of us could sit together. After excuse after excuse I finally emailed their head office and threatened to cancel the tickets. A day later they magically produced 4 confirmed seats all together. Is this any way to run a business? Not giving a paying customer what he is entitled to, a seat that he has paid for?

I have found just the opposite on a booking made last week, where on all 4 legs I've booked in one of these pairs of seats. Maybe airline/route dependant.

not sure what airline you are looking at, but for some/most airlines those 2 seaters are considered premium seats, that are only selectable by their frequent flyers at time of booking, or offered for a premium. Sometimes these seats open up for selection at time of checkin.

This applies for most questions "Why does X airline do Y."

Indirectly.
FAA has a max ratio of pax to Flight Attendants. On some planes, with some configurations, you will have a small number of seats that if they book, they have to add another FA.

So they will block those seats until they project that the flight will sell out, then they can justify adding another FA.
They don't want to add an FA, open the seats, only sell the windows and aisles, then have one more FA than the passenger load actually requires.

Also, if the load factors for a particular leg don't justify putting those seats in service and adding an FA, they can block the seats for that leg(s), then add an FA at another stop and open the seats. Alternatively, if they are short an FA, they can block the seats and bump the passengers without having to cancel the flight.

Some international carriers who don't have the same regs will block the seats from the US to the first OCONUS stop, then open the seats from there.

Example: http://www.johnnyjet.com/2013/03/how...rlines-flight/

To occupy seats already by airline...so many questions behind this type of problem...like family,freinds,marriage occasion thats why all seats occupy....