Angry over cramped WestJet seats? How backlash shows a regulation gap

The controversial move by WestJet to reduce the legroom in some economy rows on select flights in order to add extra seats exposes gaps in Canadian legislation and regulatory powers amid the continued squeeze on passengers by airlines, one air industry expert says. Concerns and backlash have grown after a video clip shared widely online appeared to show passengers pressed into the cramped seats aboard a WestJet flight, complaining about difficulty straightening their knees in front of them. There is no minimum standard in federal aviation regulations for seat pitch, the term used to measure the distance between one point on a seat and the same point on the seat in front. Airlines also don’t have to notify passengers of how much legroom they will get when booking a flight, although they can offer additional legroom for a higher fare. WestJet’s new seat configuration could be “the straw that breaks the camel’s back” and spark movement toward new regulations that ensure minimum passenger comfort, said John Gradek, an aviation expert at McGill University. “This is breaking new ground,” he said in an interview. “What WestJet did is now start the conversation about pitch. And how tight of a pitch now becomes an issue, both in terms of safety and security ... as well as comfort.” WestJet announced in September it would reconfigure the seating on 43 Boeing 737 jets to install an extra row and divide the cabin into more tiers. So far, 21 planes furnish the compressed configuration. A dozen of the 22 rows in the planes’ economy class feature 28-inch pitch versus 29- or 30-inch pitches on most other carriers’ lower-tier seats. They also have what WestJet calls a “fixed recline design,” meaning they cannot be tilted back. No other large Canadian airline has 28-inch pitch seats, though some lower-cost American airlines like Spirit and Frontier have rows with the tighter legroom while offering more space at higher prices. European airlines like Wizz Air and Ryanair offer similar cabin experiences with different tiers of seat pitch within economy classes. Neither the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration - which oversees the construction of aircraft built by American companies like Boeing - nor the European Union have regulations for seat pitch, although there have been failed attempts to set a minimum standard in recent years, including petitions to lawmakers. Get daily National news Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy . WestJet said in a social media statement last week that its reconfigured cabins are “in line with what you’ll find across North American airlines” and that “all modifications were completed in accordance with Transport Canada’s rigorous airworthiness standards and WestJet’s own high internal safety requirements.” “WestJet pioneered making air travel available to more Canadians, through our ability to keep costs low and to offer affordable airfares - to continue to do so, we need to try new products, these aircraft accommodate an extra row by varying seat pitch between 38 and 28 inches,” the airline said. While the Canadian Aviation Regulations...

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