Should extra legroom be free? Air France to begin charging for seats with additional legroom.
November 8, 2008 10:11 pmThis can read a few different ways, so here’s a snippet from an article over at OK! Magazine reporting that Air France is now going to charge for emergency exit seats on their planes. I’ve always seen the people who proactively take these seats as receiving the privilege of additional legroom in return for their service and ability to open the emergency door should something go wrong.
AIR passengers who ask for extra legroom in economy are to pay £40 for the privilege.
Air France became the first airline to introduce a supplement for the prized seats next to emergency exits or at the front of rows. Until now, taller passengers have often been able to reserve the seats with a request.
Now surcharges will be applied to long-haul flights. An Air France spokesman said: “It will be a small charge to have to pay for extra legroom.”
Carriers including Singapore Airlines have also just started a similar scheme.
British Airways said it had no intention of introducing the charge.
So far as I’m concerned, Air France isn’t really the first carrier to do this… I can’t recall, but either on a Northwest or Frontier flight that I took earlier this year, this was an option that was made available to me when I was doing electronic check-in and printing my boarding passes.
As a big & tall person, this can strike me a few different ways. When legroom is minimal or giving me problems at many places (sports, concert and theatre venues just to name a few) I’ll often ask for a better seat or to place a folding chair in the handicapped section. I usually try to be a courteous person, but sometimes it must be done for the sake of myself and those who would be forced to be around me under these circumstances.
I’m split on this one. It’s a free market and the airlines can do what they want… however accommodating those of us that have slightly different needs. Perhaps this is akin to charging for a second seat if the passenger has a wider waistline. I tend to see this as the bean counters finding another way to monetize extra space on the plane. But when there’s an empty row at the back of the plane, I usually grab that row and sprawl out to get comfortable… are they going to charge me for that next?
It costs more for our clothing and shoes because more material and effort is necessary to make it, this much is true… However on a plane already formatted for the masses, one small joy many of us get is finding that “perfect seat” on the flight so we can actually enjoy flying like normal people.
Charging for something when additional resources are required is one thing, but charging for the right to be comfortable when I’ve already paid to be here is a bit out of line.
Categories: Travel
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One Response to “Should extra legroom be free? Air France to begin charging for seats with additional legroom.”
Although it doesn’t surprise me that an airline will monetize anything it possibly can in this economy I believe charging for bulkhead and exit row seats is very unfair. I have offered to give up many of my aisle seats to tall men who are being asked to fold themselves into thirds to fit next to a window. I can’t imagine how uncomfortable that must be, I’ve been squished in econo-flights and I’m a petite 5′2″!
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