Skift Take
We all wish British Airways hadn't decided to shrink seat pitch. But once it did so, it was smart to go with so-called pre-reclined seats. When there's so little space between seats, passengers don't need another passenger reclining into them.
The Skift Airline Innovation Report is our weekly newsletter focused on the business of airline innovation. We will look closely at the technological, financial, and design trends at airlines and airports that are driving the next-generation aviation industry.
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On a continent where flyers expect many short-haul one-way flights to cost 20 or 30 euros ($24 to $36), if bought in advance, British Airways has a choice. It can ignore budget-conscious passengers and let them continue to defect to Ryanair or EasyJet, or it can lower its costs to compete.
After more than a decade of ignoring them — perhaps hoping they'd go away — British Airways is fighting. That's bad news for customers, who hate that their beloved brand has removed free food from short-haul flights, and moved to shrink legroom and width on many planes. But it's probably the only option. Legacy airlines like British Airways still make a significant portion of their revenue from corporate customers, but they can't ignore everyone else.
This week, another story went viral about the airline's cost-cutting plans. As it adds seats to some planes — a process known as densification — some aircraft will get seats that do not recline. Or, as an airline spokeswoman put it in an email, the seats "will be pre-reclined at a comfortable angle."
That British Airways will add seats is not news. The airline long ago told investors it would densify its short-haul fleet, with planes having seat pitch of 29 inches — the same as EasyJet and two inches fewer than Delta Air Lines. The premise is simple: If British Airways adds more seats to each plane, it can charge less money for each ticket, and still profit from each flight.
Predictably, British
