The Friendly Skies

The airlines are at it again. Spirit Air recently announced that they will be offering planes with “pre-reclined” seats. “Wow, that’s great!” you may be thinking – but you’d be wrong. Spirit Air is installing seats that do not recline at all and are marketing it as “pre-reclined”. Now, as an engineer, I can understand and appreciate the benefits of non-reclining seats. For one, you save cost from repairs – fewer moving parts, fewer aging components, fewer repair men… saves $$. Two, no moving parts = lighter seats, essentially saving gas over long flights... saves more $$. I don’t reject non-reclining seats conceptually, but I get a little fired up when the airline tries to bundle this up into a nice little marketing scheme where the seats are “pre-reclined”. Bullsh*t. They are making us suckers by design! Call it “fixed” seats, or “stationary” seats, or don‘t make it part of your marketing at all. And don’t you dare charge me more for a “pre-reclined” seat. As Steve Inskeep (Morning Edition on NPR) so eloquently said, “Pre-reclined for a non-reclining chair – that’s like saying your crashed plane is pre-landed.”

They charge us more and service us less. Charges for checked bags, charges for carry-ons, charges for bathroom use - the list is growing by the volcano, um, I mean day. It’s high (haha a pun) time the airlines change their strategy. Flying humans should be the same as flying cargo - weigh the person and all their luggage when they show up to the airport. A flat rate should be applied to the resulting weight. For example, total weight under 200 lbs pays a $25 fee, between 200 – 250 lbs pays a $40 fee, and so on. If the airlines don’t figure something out, they’re going to find the entire industry “pre-landed”.

And don’t get me started on airport security…