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Less legroom on AA, will UA follow?

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Old May 2, 2017, 10:03 pm
  #1  
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Less legroom on AA, will UA follow?

Saw on the news tonight that AA is going to add more seats to some of their 737's. How? By reducing legroom by 2" to 29" in the last 3 rows and down to 30" for the rest of economy, except MCE. News report said UA was considering doing the same. Think there are angry people on planes now? Just wait.

What do you think? Will UA match it or make it even worse?
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Old May 2, 2017, 10:19 pm
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Originally Posted by Baze
Saw on the news tonight that AA is going to add more seats to some of their 737's. How? By reducing legroom by 2" to 29" in the last 3 rows and down to 30" for the rest of economy, except MCE. News report said UA was considering doing the same. Think there are angry people on planes now? Just wait.

What do you think? Will UA match it or make it even worse?
Until consumers demonstrate with their wallets that they are willing to pay for legroom, this trend will continue. Once an airline hits the breaking point that nobody books even for a cheaper price, then we will see it stop. I would expect in any mature industry to have a continuous segmentation strategy. Maybe ther ewill be MCE and MCE + with 2" difference on each. Eventually, they will have enough data to optimize the different segments and pricing to match what consumers will pay for.
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Old May 2, 2017, 10:25 pm
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More room on RJs now than mainline aircraft....pathetic,
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Old May 2, 2017, 10:27 pm
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I'm becoming increasingly worried that the short pitch is compromising safety. I wonder if the FAA is requiring evacuation tests on these setups.
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Old May 2, 2017, 10:36 pm
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Let's not confuse pitch with legroom.The going assumption is that the slimline seats enable reduced pitch without as much impact on legroom. Comfort with the slimline seats, however, is an issue.
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Old May 2, 2017, 10:46 pm
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Originally Posted by Baze
Will UA match it or make it even worse?
Yes!
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Old May 3, 2017, 1:55 am
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They're going to have to pay for those $10K VDB's somehow...
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Old May 3, 2017, 5:56 am
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Here is the link to the CNN Money report.

American isn't the only big airline heading in this direction. United Airlines (UAL) is considering a similar move, according to a person briefed on its evaluations. United declined to comment.
http://money.cnn.com/2017/05/02/news...oom/index.html
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Old May 3, 2017, 6:53 am
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While this is messed up, look at it from AA viewpoint:

This move will not deter its loyal customers, because they always reserve economy plus (I am UA flyer, so I don't know the exact name of American's Econ+).

90/100 non frequent fliers don't know 27 inches from 31 inches, and book for lowest price.

This is how I would look at things if this happened at UA.

Now if they start messing with Econ +, then we have a problem.
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Old May 3, 2017, 6:55 am
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Originally Posted by iluv2fly
They're going to have to pay for those $10K VDB's somehow...
^

Anyone remember back when AA took out seats to give more leg room on every flight?

I do wonder at what point it will be shown that decreased legroom affects safety. I wonder if the NTSB has made any comment on the subject in the past. Unless we have a few fatal air accidents that directly point to the seat pitch, I doubt the FAA will ever do anything about it.

Originally Posted by bulgarianfreak55
While this is messed up, look at it from AA viewpoint:

This move will not deter its loyal customers, because they always reserve economy plus (I am UA flyer, so I don't know the exact name of American's Econ+).

90/100 non frequent fliers don't know 27 inches from 31 inches, and book for lowest price.

This is how I would look at things if this happened at UA.

Now if they start messing with Econ +, then we have a problem.
UA calls it "Economy Plus"
UA has already messed with E+ reducing by an inch with the slimline seats
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Old May 3, 2017, 6:56 am
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Originally Posted by Baze
Saw on the news tonight that AA is going to add more seats to some of their 737's. How? By reducing legroom by 2" to 29" in the last 3 rows and down to 30" for the rest of economy, except MCE. News report said UA was considering doing the same. Think there are angry people on planes now? Just wait.

What do you think? Will UA match it or make it even worse?
United is already at 30" in those slimmed aircraft. If UA can squeeze another row of seats, they will.
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Old May 3, 2017, 6:58 am
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Originally Posted by bulgarianfreak55

Now if they start messing with Econ +, then we have a problem.
You have not noticed that UA has messed up with E+ legrooms in the past few years. It used to be 37" for E+. It is now down to 34" for some versions of 737.
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Old May 3, 2017, 7:00 am
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Originally Posted by Baze
Saw on the news tonight that AA is going to add more seats to some of their 737's. How? By reducing legroom by 2" to 29" in the last 3 rows and down to 30" for the rest of economy, except MCE. News report said UA was considering doing the same. Think there are angry people on planes now? Just wait.

What do you think? Will UA match it or make it even worse?
With all the doom and gloom being predicted in the "Lost business fall-out from Flight UA3411" thread, why would UA spend money to increase capacity?

Answer, of course, is that they wouldn't.

But then, perhaps the doom-and-gloom predictions are unfounded, and loads and bookings are holding steady.

Not exactly a bellwether for the industry, but BA already has some 29" seat pitches.
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Old May 3, 2017, 7:47 am
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Makes me glad I'm short.
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Old May 3, 2017, 8:09 am
  #15  
 
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Originally Posted by mahasamatman
I'm becoming increasingly worried that the short pitch is compromising safety. I wonder if the FAA is requiring evacuation tests on these setups.
Do a little research about survival on UA 232, those that could not get their heads below the seats in front of them, didn't do well....during a crash sequence the reduced distance between seats does affect survivability...
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