I’m not defending WestJet but I’ve mentioned it before how they both appear to have their butts scooted to the edge of the seat to make it look worse.
SegaPlaystation64 on
WestJet is a discount carrier without the discount.
Mathmos_Lava on
Even Ryanair, a true discount carrier, has a 29” pitch, more than the 28” West Jet is moving to. It’s completely ridiculous.
Different-Cress-6784 on
Westjet saw this video and probably thought there’s room to shrink it further since his ass is still in the seat
pm_sushirolls on
Another 10 years and that’ll be the premium economy luxury seat
DreadpirateBG on
I agree that there should be some minimum regulations on things like this. If not then each company will race each other to find the bottom and then go deeper. Thats the nature of running a business. Unless the government regulates, a business will always seek to find the minimum it can do in all aspects of the business. Unless the owner has certain values or quality of service they pride themselves in. Many don’t.
LiterallyTwoBears on
Makes me hesitant to book WestJet. I don’t want to be on one of these new planes.
boomerang_act on
Man where are our European style passenger bill of rights.
Gabor Lukacs is usually in the news for a comment when these cases come up.
Weekly_Laugh4288 on
this can not be good. for air safety!!!
now with the extra weight of passanger s and luggage. they will need more fuel. so are they making money
IMAWNIT on
All they have to do is look at the published row pitch and actual measurements.
If I recall the recent changes are as low as 28-29.
ChatamKay on
So much for getting into the brace position??
notthatnewtoreddit on
In a crash, if there are survivors, it seems they’d likely be trapped by the crowded seating. [Edit: typo]
Odd-Foundation-4637 on
In other news Canadians continue to get ripped off by their very poorly competitive businesses
haliginger on
I just wrote to our local MP and Steven MacKinnon, Minister of Transport, urging Transport Canada to adopt regulation around this issue.
We have a 1 and 2 year old, so travel with car seats. We specifically chose one of the smallest and lightest on the market. It is highly recommended for travel as it fits into most plane seats and we haven’t had an issue so far. I doubt it would fit WJ’s new configuration though or at least not without severely impacting the person ahead.
Transport Canada, as well as most airlines, recommend children be in a car seat until they’re at least 49″ tall and able to bend their legs over the seat. The lap belt is not designed for someone smaller than this and they can slip out of it if there is turbulence, crash or another event.
Car seats aren’t allowed in some areas of the plane, like business class or exit rows. So even the paid options become limited for families.
We never really fly WJ since they cut so much service to Atlantic Canada but I am worried that other airlines will follow suit.
DrinkMoreBrews on
This totally negates any safety protocols implemented by WestJet. Corporate capitalism, baby.
Sufficient_Swing_406 on
Atleast they dont recline. Hopefully they all go that route.
No-No-BadDog on
Next will be “Bring your own lawn chair to save 10% on your flight”
Old-one1956 on
If this was a bar/restaurant or movie theatre the fire marshal would close them down, definitely not safe for evacuation. Even dangerous for someone sitting in such cramped position for extended period (more than 45 minutes). Could be a health issue. Every year it seems that most airlines are cramming in more and more, talk about being treated like cattle. Even ferries going across water have far superior legroom due to regulations. Transport Canada has dropped the ball on this. Yes I recognize trying to keep costs down but cramming in more is not the answer.
Outrageous-Estimate9 on
TL;DR – by making seats incapable of leaning back they are squeezing an extra row of passengers in and giving everyone less legroom and no way to sleep
_Lucille_ on
If they are going to make things this tight, they need to just make the seat convertible to a standing area with a standing desk.
Honestly do not mind standing every once in a while: you can sort of hang out near the doors on bigger planes, but not with smaller ones.
Rdub on
Kinda feels like the whole world these days is us regular folks being crammed into ever smaller spaces (Both literally and figuratively) so rich people can have even more money.
The literal *only* reason WestJet is reducing seat pitch is in the pursuit of profit for their private equity overlords.
They’ll cram you like a contortionist into a literal coffin in the sky if it means some billionaire somewhere can get a third yacht.
I_Am_The_Zombie_Woof on
Fuck debate. It’s time for a boycott. Nothing gets corporations riled up like losing shareholder value
redux44 on
I get this setup when its super cheap budget planes like Ryanair or Spirit. I never figured Westjet for this tier but guess that’s how I should view it moving forward.
amazonallie on
As someone 6ft tall who is ALL leg, I will not be booking WestJet. I always pay for extra leg room, but even then my legs are squished
I can’t imagine these seats.
Slick-Fork on
God, it’s like a complete 180 from the days when they marketed themselves as the friendly airline that cared about its customers
HugeDramatic on
If I lived out east I wouldn’t even think about flying WestJet. Porter seems like a much more customer friendly business and AC, despite its issues, still has way more to offer than WJ.
sharilynj on
WestJet ceased being a good airline years ago, and it took me way too long to realize it.
Last time I flew with them they lost my luggage, left garbage in my Premium seat, and served me a meal that I vomited up a few hours later. That was all one trip.
Previous to that, highlights include:
-Not announcing the broken wifi and me asking the asshole flight attendant about it TWICE before he finally admitted it didn’t work. I had a ton of work to do, and he snarkily told me to write my emails and send them when we land. As if I’m a fucking secretary. He then stood in the front galley and regaled his poor coworker with tales of his crypto trades until she was saved by the drink carts.
-Lying about “weather” delays early in the morning when in actuality their incoming crew from the night before timed out. They don’t give a single minute of buffer for mandated rest time, so they end up bumping the early flights. Watch your plane’s progress on FlightAware, the minutes delayed the night before will match the minutes delayed in the morning exactly and they’ll call it “weather.”
I’ve had a lot of bad experiences on a lot of airlines and still flown them, but barring extreme desperation, WestJet is a “never again” at this point.
Jacknugget on
WestJet: Enshitification, one inch of legroom at a time
rather_be_gaming on
I remember when Westjet first came out and they were great! Service and prices were great! I remember flyimg between calgary and vancouver was $59 one way and I could visit home (at that time) so often. Different times.
Ritchie_Whyte_III on
I have been on hundreds of Westjet flights over the last five years due to work. I would rather stand for a 4 hour flight than be locked into an unmovable sitting position like this. Glad I don’t need to fly anymore and I’ve cancelled all my Westjet credit cards because they have made their points virtually useless.
Westjet used to be great, but being owned by a soulless investment firm has made them effectively cartoonishly evil. They are willing to do anything to wring out a dollar.
ottawa_biker on
It’s a constant race to the bottom, and we haven’t hit bottom yet.
Get ready to pay extra for a seat with padding, a seat angle less than 90 degrees, fees for any sort of carry-on, and advertisements being blasted from the seat in front of you for the entire flight, unless you pay extra.
Government needs to step in and legislate some minimum standards for air travel.
LokiDesigns on
As a person who is 6’4″ it’s insane that I should have to pay more money to fit in a fucking seat, purely because I’m tall. I didn’t choose to be this tall, I can’t change how tall I am. This is corporate greed in all it’s glory.
jlee225 on
never booking westjet again
vonlagin on
I for one would not physically be able to sit here so would end up walking off the flight. This is the least amount of leg room of any carrier on the planet. It’s inhumane, unsafe, and will absolutely result in medical issues (deep vein, blood clots, bruising etc.).
Full stop, they will lose far more business than they will have ever gained by adding an additional 6 freakin seats. Astonishing, absolutely astonishing mindset by leadership. Private Equity strikes again.
ghost_n_the_shell on
I think government standards are a must.
We must remember that, without regulation, they can and will try anything and everything to squeeze more people into tighter and tighter spaces.
It’s sad – but basic human rights need articulation here, or the airlines will trounce on them.
Cedreginald on
I was on this configuration recently. I’m pretty short and my knees were on fire halfway through a 2.5 hour flight. They also reduced the under seat room so you have to cram your personal item in there whereas it fits with room to spare on every other configuration.
The pop down phone holder thing is kinda cool though.
saskdudley on
We need more airline competition.
Competitive-Fig-9515 on
I was just on their new planes and it’s truly horrible. Not being able to recline broke my back
bananacrumble on
I’m glad the leg room went viral. They did the reconfiguration in September and only now it comes to light. I hope they have to fix it.
YesHunty on
Stop booking flights with them, the only thing they care about is money.
MrBoomer1951 on
They appear to be sitting forward on the cushion.
Look at the spine to legs angle.
NotAtAllExciting on
I’m 5’0 and was cramped on my WestJet flight in October. It was an uncomfortable 3 hours.
uprightshark on
I am 6’5″ and 61 years old with bad joints.
I always flew Westjet to visit my son and family, but there is no way I could physically endure a flight in that seat.
Westjet needs to weigh their cost plan as a result of this change, versus the customers they will lose to a competitor with better seating.
saucytopcheddar on
As someone who is 6’3”, and already finds airplanes uncomfortable, I will gladly pay more money to fly with other airlines now.
I can’t imagine what it’s like for people taller than me.
PasF1981 on
Why don’t we see their backs against the seatbacks? It looks like they are slouching in the seats to make it look cramped?
toilet_for_shrek on
They want to do discount carrier things minus the discount part. The oligopoly greed in Canada is unmatched even next to the US.
Harnellas on
Hopefully whichever Westjet misanthrope made this call feels personal repercussions from this backlash. If not, other cuts will be made elsewhere and other companies will follow suit.
Ok-Crow-1515 on
Pretty soon, they’ll have people standing up on flights. The airlines are insane.
48 Comments
I’m not defending WestJet but I’ve mentioned it before how they both appear to have their butts scooted to the edge of the seat to make it look worse.
WestJet is a discount carrier without the discount.
Even Ryanair, a true discount carrier, has a 29” pitch, more than the 28” West Jet is moving to. It’s completely ridiculous.
Westjet saw this video and probably thought there’s room to shrink it further since his ass is still in the seat
Another 10 years and that’ll be the premium economy luxury seat
I agree that there should be some minimum regulations on things like this. If not then each company will race each other to find the bottom and then go deeper. Thats the nature of running a business. Unless the government regulates, a business will always seek to find the minimum it can do in all aspects of the business. Unless the owner has certain values or quality of service they pride themselves in. Many don’t.
Makes me hesitant to book WestJet. I don’t want to be on one of these new planes.
Man where are our European style passenger bill of rights.
Gabor Lukacs is usually in the news for a comment when these cases come up.
this can not be good. for air safety!!!
now with the extra weight of passanger s and luggage. they will need more fuel. so are they making money
All they have to do is look at the published row pitch and actual measurements.
If I recall the recent changes are as low as 28-29.
So much for getting into the brace position??
In a crash, if there are survivors, it seems they’d likely be trapped by the crowded seating. [Edit: typo]
In other news Canadians continue to get ripped off by their very poorly competitive businesses
I just wrote to our local MP and Steven MacKinnon, Minister of Transport, urging Transport Canada to adopt regulation around this issue.
We have a 1 and 2 year old, so travel with car seats. We specifically chose one of the smallest and lightest on the market. It is highly recommended for travel as it fits into most plane seats and we haven’t had an issue so far. I doubt it would fit WJ’s new configuration though or at least not without severely impacting the person ahead.
Transport Canada, as well as most airlines, recommend children be in a car seat until they’re at least 49″ tall and able to bend their legs over the seat. The lap belt is not designed for someone smaller than this and they can slip out of it if there is turbulence, crash or another event.
Car seats aren’t allowed in some areas of the plane, like business class or exit rows. So even the paid options become limited for families.
We never really fly WJ since they cut so much service to Atlantic Canada but I am worried that other airlines will follow suit.
This totally negates any safety protocols implemented by WestJet. Corporate capitalism, baby.
Atleast they dont recline. Hopefully they all go that route.
Next will be “Bring your own lawn chair to save 10% on your flight”
If this was a bar/restaurant or movie theatre the fire marshal would close them down, definitely not safe for evacuation. Even dangerous for someone sitting in such cramped position for extended period (more than 45 minutes). Could be a health issue. Every year it seems that most airlines are cramming in more and more, talk about being treated like cattle. Even ferries going across water have far superior legroom due to regulations. Transport Canada has dropped the ball on this. Yes I recognize trying to keep costs down but cramming in more is not the answer.
TL;DR – by making seats incapable of leaning back they are squeezing an extra row of passengers in and giving everyone less legroom and no way to sleep
If they are going to make things this tight, they need to just make the seat convertible to a standing area with a standing desk.
Honestly do not mind standing every once in a while: you can sort of hang out near the doors on bigger planes, but not with smaller ones.
Kinda feels like the whole world these days is us regular folks being crammed into ever smaller spaces (Both literally and figuratively) so rich people can have even more money.
The literal *only* reason WestJet is reducing seat pitch is in the pursuit of profit for their private equity overlords.
They’ll cram you like a contortionist into a literal coffin in the sky if it means some billionaire somewhere can get a third yacht.
Fuck debate. It’s time for a boycott. Nothing gets corporations riled up like losing shareholder value
I get this setup when its super cheap budget planes like Ryanair or Spirit. I never figured Westjet for this tier but guess that’s how I should view it moving forward.
As someone 6ft tall who is ALL leg, I will not be booking WestJet. I always pay for extra leg room, but even then my legs are squished
I can’t imagine these seats.
God, it’s like a complete 180 from the days when they marketed themselves as the friendly airline that cared about its customers
If I lived out east I wouldn’t even think about flying WestJet. Porter seems like a much more customer friendly business and AC, despite its issues, still has way more to offer than WJ.
WestJet ceased being a good airline years ago, and it took me way too long to realize it.
Last time I flew with them they lost my luggage, left garbage in my Premium seat, and served me a meal that I vomited up a few hours later. That was all one trip.
Previous to that, highlights include:
-Not announcing the broken wifi and me asking the asshole flight attendant about it TWICE before he finally admitted it didn’t work. I had a ton of work to do, and he snarkily told me to write my emails and send them when we land. As if I’m a fucking secretary. He then stood in the front galley and regaled his poor coworker with tales of his crypto trades until she was saved by the drink carts.
-Lying about “weather” delays early in the morning when in actuality their incoming crew from the night before timed out. They don’t give a single minute of buffer for mandated rest time, so they end up bumping the early flights. Watch your plane’s progress on FlightAware, the minutes delayed the night before will match the minutes delayed in the morning exactly and they’ll call it “weather.”
I’ve had a lot of bad experiences on a lot of airlines and still flown them, but barring extreme desperation, WestJet is a “never again” at this point.
WestJet: Enshitification, one inch of legroom at a time
I remember when Westjet first came out and they were great! Service and prices were great! I remember flyimg between calgary and vancouver was $59 one way and I could visit home (at that time) so often. Different times.
I have been on hundreds of Westjet flights over the last five years due to work. I would rather stand for a 4 hour flight than be locked into an unmovable sitting position like this. Glad I don’t need to fly anymore and I’ve cancelled all my Westjet credit cards because they have made their points virtually useless.
Westjet used to be great, but being owned by a soulless investment firm has made them effectively cartoonishly evil. They are willing to do anything to wring out a dollar.
It’s a constant race to the bottom, and we haven’t hit bottom yet.
Get ready to pay extra for a seat with padding, a seat angle less than 90 degrees, fees for any sort of carry-on, and advertisements being blasted from the seat in front of you for the entire flight, unless you pay extra.
Government needs to step in and legislate some minimum standards for air travel.
As a person who is 6’4″ it’s insane that I should have to pay more money to fit in a fucking seat, purely because I’m tall. I didn’t choose to be this tall, I can’t change how tall I am. This is corporate greed in all it’s glory.
never booking westjet again
I for one would not physically be able to sit here so would end up walking off the flight. This is the least amount of leg room of any carrier on the planet. It’s inhumane, unsafe, and will absolutely result in medical issues (deep vein, blood clots, bruising etc.).
Full stop, they will lose far more business than they will have ever gained by adding an additional 6 freakin seats. Astonishing, absolutely astonishing mindset by leadership. Private Equity strikes again.
I think government standards are a must.
We must remember that, without regulation, they can and will try anything and everything to squeeze more people into tighter and tighter spaces.
It’s sad – but basic human rights need articulation here, or the airlines will trounce on them.
I was on this configuration recently. I’m pretty short and my knees were on fire halfway through a 2.5 hour flight. They also reduced the under seat room so you have to cram your personal item in there whereas it fits with room to spare on every other configuration.
The pop down phone holder thing is kinda cool though.
We need more airline competition.
I was just on their new planes and it’s truly horrible. Not being able to recline broke my back
I’m glad the leg room went viral. They did the reconfiguration in September and only now it comes to light. I hope they have to fix it.
Stop booking flights with them, the only thing they care about is money.
They appear to be sitting forward on the cushion.
Look at the spine to legs angle.
I’m 5’0 and was cramped on my WestJet flight in October. It was an uncomfortable 3 hours.
I am 6’5″ and 61 years old with bad joints.
I always flew Westjet to visit my son and family, but there is no way I could physically endure a flight in that seat.
Westjet needs to weigh their cost plan as a result of this change, versus the customers they will lose to a competitor with better seating.
As someone who is 6’3”, and already finds airplanes uncomfortable, I will gladly pay more money to fly with other airlines now.
I can’t imagine what it’s like for people taller than me.
Why don’t we see their backs against the seatbacks? It looks like they are slouching in the seats to make it look cramped?
They want to do discount carrier things minus the discount part. The oligopoly greed in Canada is unmatched even next to the US.
Hopefully whichever Westjet misanthrope made this call feels personal repercussions from this backlash. If not, other cuts will be made elsewhere and other companies will follow suit.
Pretty soon, they’ll have people standing up on flights. The airlines are insane.