Skift Take
For the most part, you have to go way beyond the airline brand to figure out how to get the roomiest seats and to avoid the big squeeze in economy class. Travelers need to drill down on the particular route and aircraft type to scope out the seat situation.
If you are among the millions of airline passengers who sit back at the gate when all those frequent flyers board early to snatch their seat upgrades or premium seats purchased for an additional fee, then here’s some advice for landing a roomy seat without having to shell out extra money: fly JetBlue or Virgin America.
If you fly either of these airlines in basic economy, your choice is a no-brainer from a comfort standpoint because all of their domestic flights have roomy seats and they are among the roomiest in the industry. That is, all of their seats have at least 33 inches of pitch, or have 32 inches of pitch and seat cushions more than 17.5 inches wide.
Of course, if you don't fly to airports where JetBlue or Virgin America deploy their landing gear, then you are going to have to dig deeper to find comfy seats.
All fleets are not created equal
If you are interested in legroom and the ability to stretch a bit, then avoid Cape Air, Spirit Airlines and Allegiant because 100% of their domestic flights have tight seats with only 28-30 inches of
