American Airlines is
going back on its policy of providing
more legroom to passengers and adding more seats to its flights. A couple of years ago the airline heavily marketed its
decision to pull out seats and provide more room to economy passengers in MD80 and Boeing 737, 767 and 777 fleets. But
no longer.
“When we launched ‘More Room Throughout Coach,’ healthy yields and robust business travel were the norm, and both
conditions were essential to the success of More Room,” AMR chairman and chief executive Gerard Arpey said.
“However, times have changed, and we must acknowledge that in today’s low-fare environment, having fewer seats on
our aircraft has put us at a real revenue disadvantage compared to other airlines,” he said in a statement.
It has been obvious for a while that the low budget airlines are taking the bigguns like Ameriacn, United and
Delta to the cleaners. It is sad, though, to see the customer experience take a hit. It smacks of desperation in a
way. IMHO, the first thing airlines like American ought to do is get rid of the in-flight meals, which are so bad
anyway, it is doubtful anyone’s really going to miss them.