Two more airlines cut legroom to add extra seats
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The trend to reduce legroom while charging customers a premium for more comfortable seats is continuing apace.
The Telegraph reports that US domestic airline JetBlue is the latest to reduce legroom from 33 inches to 32, in order to make room for two more rows of seats at the front of the cabin which offer 38 inches of legroom.
Canada-based airline WestJet has similar plans: it is cutting legroom to 31 or 32 inches to make room for four rows of 36-inch seats.
Both airlines will then charge passengers for the roomier seats - a move which is, unsurprisingly, proving to be very unpopular with travellers.
Changes of this kind are becoming increasingly common in the US, where Southwest airlines moved their economy seats an inch closer together earlier this year.
Across all airlines, the average amount of legroom is now around 31 inches - although this can vary considerably and, among budget airlines, can be up to two inches less.
According to Cheapflights.co.uk, Easyjet offers the least legroom with just 29 inches. However, some airlines may actually offer up to an inch less: Thomas Cook offers between 28 and 30 inches, Thompson offers between 28 and 31 and Monarch offers 28 to 29 inches. Ryanair passengers get 30 inches.
Click on the image below for some mid-air meltdowns...
Mid-air meltdowns
- Yes, we have no pyjamas...<p> In August 2012, two passengers threw a wobbly because their airline didn't have any X-L sized pjyamas. Their Qantas flight was delayed as air stewards tried to pacify the pair but they were so indignant that they refused to fly and demanded to get off the plane. Quite right too. There's nothing worse than ill-fitting jim-jams at 30,000ft.</p>
- Get that screaming child off my plane!<p> A toddler meltdown led to an entire family being kicked off a flight from Boston to the Caribbean in March 2012. Collette Vieau's two-year old daughter Natalie started crying and refused to sit in her seat. Although the family eventually managed to strap her in, the JetBlue pilot decided it was unsafe to fly with her on board and the family had to disembark. As there were no more flights that evening, the family had to pay $2,000 for hotel accommodation and to rebook their flights...</p>
- The father and son who came to blows<p> A Thomas Cook flight from Manchester to the Canary Islands had to do a U-turn after a passenger became so agressive that he had to be pinned down by five people. The 50-year-old man, who appeared to have been drinking, apparently got into a violent argument with an elderly passenger - believed to be his father - and began swinging wild punches, witnesses said. The plane landed and the unruly passenger was immediately arrested.</p>
- What, no champagne?<p> In January 2012, a Delta Airlines flight from Atlanta to Costa Rica had to be diverted because a couple from Germany reportedly refused to sit down unless they were given champagne. The pair, who were seated in first class, denied the incident, but Delta Airlines captain took the precaution of making a diversion to Florida, where they were removed from the flight.</p>
- The pilot who lost the plot<p> Even pilots have their moments, as we discovered from the JetBlue pilot who suffered a mid-air meltdown in March 2012 while in charge of a flight between New York and Las Vegas. Three hours into their flight, passengers were terrified when the heard him suddenly start banging doors and running around the aircraft yelling about terrorism, and screaming: 'We're all going down!". The pilot had to be wrestled to the floor by passengers and locked out of the cockpit, and an off-duty pilot who was on board helped the plane make an emergency landing. The Jetblue pilot was later found not guilty of interfering with a flight crew for reasons of insanity.</p>
- Why won't this door open?<p> In May 2011, terrified passengers on board an Easyjet plane had to overpower a British man who twice tried to open a cabin door mid-flight at 35,000ft between Krakow, Poland and Edinburgh. Witnesses said the the man lunged for the door handle but was quickly tackled by staff and fellow passengers as the aircraft's pilots were forced to land at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport. </p>
- The streaker who got a bum reaction<p> In 2010, a flight from Omsk to Vladivostok was grounded after one of the passengers started running around the plane naked. or one and a half hours passengers of today’s Omsk-Vladivostok flight had to watch a naked passenger. The young man suddenly he jumped off his seat, quickly took all his clothes off, and started shouting and darting around the cabin,” Siberian transport police representatives said. The man was also taken to a clinic upon landing.</p>
- The stir-crazy stewardess<p> It's not just passengers who go a bit mental when they're on a plane. Back in March, one airline stewardess appeared to completely lose the plot when she started screaming about 9-11 and how the plane was going to crash. American Airlines flight 2332 from Dallas was taxiing along the runway when the attendant suddenly started screaming hysterically. Terrified passengers had to pin her down and the plane returned to base, where police arrested her, still kicking and screaming.</p>
- Switch that *@@!£$ing light off!<p> In July 2012, a passenger on an Alaska Airlines flight faced legal charges after he exploded into an expletive-ridden tirade against a woman in front of him - because she wouldn't turn off her reading light. The 50-year-old man, who was on a flight from Honolulu to Bellingham International Airport in Washington, threatened to keep kicking the back of her chair is she didn't turn off the light.</p>
- Lap dance, anyone?<p> In August 2011, passengers travelling to London from Moscow on a bmi flight got more than they bargained for when a drunk female passenger started performing erotic dances in the aisles. The Airbus had to return to Domodedovo half an hour after take off when the woman started "harrassing" passengers. The woman was subsequently removed from the flight and taken to hospital for medical tests. The airline said it was considered fining her for the delay...</p>
