The controversial move by WestJet to reduce the legroom in some economy rows on select flights in order to add extra seats exposes gaps in Canadian legislation and regulatory powers amid the continued squeeze on passengers by airlines, one air industry expert says.
Concerns and backlash have grown after a video clip shared widely online appeared to show passengers pressed into the cramped seats aboard a WestJet flight, complaining about difficulty straightening their knees in front of them.
There is no minimum standard in federal aviation regulations for seat pitch, the term used to measure the distance between one point on a seat and the same point on the seat in front. Airlines also don’t have to notify passengers of how much legroom they will get when booking a flight, although they can offer additional legroom for a higher fare.
WestJet’s new seat configuration could be “the straw that breaks the camel’s back” and spark movement toward new regulations that ensure minimum passenger comfort, said John Gradek, an aviation expert at McGill University.
“This is breaking new ground,” he said in an interview.
“What WestJet did is now start the conversation about pitch. And how tight of a pitch now becomes an issue, both in terms of safety and security … as well as comfort.”
WestJet announced in September it would reconfigure the seating on 43 Boeing 737 jets to install an extra row and divide the cabin into more tiers.
So far, 21 planes furnish the compressed configuration.
A dozen of the 22 rows in the planes’ economy class feature 28-inch pitch versus 29- or 30-inch pitches on most other carriers’ lower-tier seats. They also have what WestJet calls a “fixed recline design,” meaning they cannot be tilted back.
No other large Canadian airline has 28-inch pitch seats, though some lower-cost American airlines like Spirit and Frontier have rows with the tighter legroom while offering more space at higher prices.
European airlines like Wizz Air and Ryanair offer similar cabin experiences with different tiers of seat pitch within economy classes.
Neither the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration — which oversees the construction of aircraft built by American companies like Boeing — nor the European Union have regulations for seat pitch, although there have been failed attempts to set a minimum standard in recent years, including petitions to lawmakers.
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WestJet said in a social media statement last week that its reconfigured cabins are “in line with what you’ll find across North American airlines” and that “all modifications were completed in accordance with Transport Canada’s rigorous airworthiness standards and WestJet’s own high internal safety requirements.”
“WestJet pioneered making air travel available to more Canadians, through our ability to keep costs low and to offer affordable airfares — to continue to do so, we need to try new products, these aircraft accommodate an extra row by varying seat pitch between 38 and 28 inches,” the airline said.
While the Canadian Aviation Regulations include several safety provisions for seat design, there are no regulations for seat pitch.
The only instance where pitch is regulated is to ensure proper spacing for emergency exit rows.
“That’s the $64,000 question, is who’s got oversight on pitch?” Gradek said.
“I think it falls under service and the cabin environment and how people are served and the atmosphere that they’re served in. And I think that’s where the CTA, the Canadian Transportation Agency, basically has the responsibility.”
However, the CTA Air Passenger Protection website explicitly says it “cannot help” with issues related to airline customer service. Accessibility complaints, meanwhile, only apply to people with a visible or invisible disability that “hinders a person’s full and equal participation in society.”
Gradek said regulations would need to be changed in order for airlines to be required to account for things like passenger comfort and to ensure larger customers don’t feel discriminated against, and that the backlash against WestJet’s changes could spark that conversation.
“There’s tens of thousands of people, in my opinion, that are going be feeling discriminated against because their physical stature does not permit them to be able to have a comfortable flight,” he said.
That raises the larger question of “who defines comfort,” he added.
“If you’re sitting on a window seat with a 28-inch pitch seat pitch, and you have to go to the washroom, good luck.”
A spokesperson for Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon would not say if the federal government was considering any changes to legislation in response to WestJet’s seat changes.
“Transport Canada ensures that any cabin reconfigurations comply with Canada’s strict safety and airworthiness standards and will take appropriate action if those standards are not met,” Marie-Justine Torres, press secretary for Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon, said in a statement.
“We also recognize that comfort, passenger experience, and accessibility are important. These fall under the responsibility of the Canadian Transportation Agency, which sets standards to ensure air travel is accessible and respectful. We encourage passengers to raise their concerns with WestJet. Passengers expect a travel experience that prioritizes safety, while offering reliability.”
WestJet has said its reconfigured cabins underwent “an extensive safety and certification process” and were signed off by Transport Canada.
The department told Global News it considers a number of factors when reviewing such changes, including the effectiveness of a speedy emergency evacuation.
A Transport Canada spokesperson pointed to federal regulations that require manufacturers “to demonstrate that the maximum seating capacity can be evacuated from the aircraft to the ground within 90 seconds under simulated emergency conditions.”
Gradek said it’s unclear how that assessment was carried out in the seats with the 28-inch pitch.
“Who was the typical passenger that was used in order for them to sign off on the 90-second evacuation with these new seats?” he asked.
He noted that, while a smaller or average-sized person may be able to quickly evacuate from the cramped rows in question, someone who is “six-foot-three, 240 pounds” is “going to have a very different evacuation.”
Transport Canada did not provide details on its assessment of WestJet’s reconfiguration, only noting that compliance with the evacuation standard “must be established through a documented demonstration, utilizing appropriate testing criteria to validate the evacuation capability.”
It is otherwise up to the airline to ensure flight crews are trained to provide proper safety procedures to passengers, the department said.
“Part of the air operator’s training consists in addressing hazards and providing procedures for ensuring passenger and crew safety, especially procedures relating to the different types of evacuation situations,” spokesperson Hicham Ayoun said in an emailed statement.
WestJet did not respond to detailed questions about whether it demonstrated that all body types could meet the evacuation standard, or if the review led to new training procedures or efforts to address health and safety impacts from the reduced legroom, like cramping or blood clots from less ability to move.
The airline has said it is continuing to monitor guest and employee feedback on the seat pitch changes.
Last month, the airline paused the move to install non-reclining seats on a larger slice of its fleet after pushback from workers and the Canadian public.
Canada’s Competition Bureau noted in a report last year that weak competition in the airline industry remains a big hurdle to lower prices and better service across the country, after conducting a study on the issue.
Industry Minister Melanie Joly told the agency’s annual summit in October that the federal government “will be hawkish on competition.”
More competition will spur more of a reaction from airlines like WestJet to improve service than any government oversight, Gradek said — and maybe even lead to more legroom for all passengers.
“I think we know we have to draw the line in the sand somewhere, and this is a good one to draw,” he said.