EDITORIAL – Boo to WestJet, even with cancellation of its cramped-seat plan

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

JUST WHEN I was about to forsake WestJet forever, the airline decides to listen to customers and reverse its decision to dramatically reduce leg room in a bunch of its planes.

For the sake of cramming a half dozen more passengers into its 737s, it had planned to cut the space between some rows to 28 inches. If you’ve ever flown Economy, you know how uncomfortable it can be. A viral video posted by a couple of passengers illustrated just how much worse the new configuration would make air travel on WestJet.

Airlines in general have been offering crappier service in recent years, tinkering with baggage allowances, seat selection, in-flight service, meals on short flights, eliminating printed reading materials, reducing seat pitch and taking away reclining seats in some cases.

WestJet doesn’t even offer seatback entertainment screens on some of its planes; if you’re on a cross-ocean flight of eight or 10 hours, you’ll have to bring your own laptop and headphones if you want to watch a movie. Better bring a good book.

One of the really galling things about WestJet’s aborted plan to reduce leg room was that there was no advance warning to passengers that they were getting one of the tighter rows, although fares are cheaper the further back you go in the plane. Apparently, airlines aren’t required to provide such a courtesy to Economy travellers.

Besides that, removing the extra rows and returning to the original configuration on its 737s is going to take about a year to accomplish.

The argument of the airlines for getting chintzy on services and comfort is that they want to give passengers cheaper options. Sure, but there’s such a thing as a minimum beyond which they shouldn’t go, especially when it comes to safety and transparency.

So, maybe I’ll fly WestJet again, maybe not. I’m not exactly a world traveller but from now on I’ll pay more attention to what I’m getting — or not getting — when I fly.

Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Webster Foundation Commentator of the Year finalist. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor.  He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.