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Westjet is going to make you pay to recline your seat
- tomwiddles 1y agoThought this was an onion piece.
- betaby 1y agoSo basically like EasyJet in EU?
- ciaranmca 1y agoRyanair is probably a better comparison.
- precommunicator 1y agoRyanair's seats don't recline, period.
- maroon_unperson 1y agoI love it so much, not having someone cause me excruciating pain by reclining their seat into my knees is a real selling point as a tall person. It also helps that Ryanair forgo the usual magazine basket which typically sticks out and makes it impossible to move your legs left to right.
- iaw 1y ago>According to a press release from the airline, economy seats on the retrofitted planes will have "back support with a fixed recline design," which in simpler terms means the seat will not have the ability to recline. >The Premium section at the front of these planes will have "ergonomically contoured seat cushions, reclining seat backs and a large headrest with four-way adjustment capability." So.. poor people don't deserve ergonomic seats?
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago> poor people don't deserve ergonomic seats? It’s more that you can sell a seat cheaper if it isn’t ergonomic.
- lazide 1y agoBe thankful they aren’t proposing a single board hah! You know what I would pay for? Bunk beds.
- SketchySeaBeast 1y agoWhich would be 5' 9" long, exactly calibrated to the average American male and not an inch more.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- renewiltord 1y agoI doubt there is a notion in the world of what seats anyone deserves. Poor people maybe should be helped live but ergonomic seats etc. are not life threatening and so if anyone poor or rich wants to avoid paying for them then they should have the option. In fact, I would go so far as to say there are no people in the world who earn an airplane ticket through deserving it. It's an entirely pay to play luxury.
- wongarsu 1y agoI assume the version without recline feature and back support is lighter and takes up less space. If they can shave off an inch from the backrest they can fit in another row, and if they can shave off a pound by removing all adjustability that's 180 pound less per plane, saving fuel. Also makes people more likely to upgrade. Basically all the same reasons why economy doesn't get business class seats
- wouldbecouldbe 1y agoDuring Corona time all the airlines in Europe pleaded not to cash in the vouchers, but instead re-use them. I did that for many. But then Corona was over and there was no reciprocity. The amount of time they have fffd me over and not even have the decency to have a non-automated response is mindboggling
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago> the vouchers What are you referring to?
- letmetweakit 1y agoI guess vouchers from cancelled flights and trips.
- jghn 1y agoI'd pay extra to keep the person in front of me from being able to recline.
- kstrauser 1y agoThe person in front of me slammed her seat back in a recent flight and it made me yelp in pain. I’m tall and my knees were nearly pressed against the seat before she pounced. I started bouncing my knees to try to get comfortable. The person’s kid turned and said “you’re shaking my mom’s seat.” “Yes. It’s mashing my legs.” “Could you stop?” “No. Tell her to straighten up.” “Oh.” She did, and I stopped. I do get that she just wanted to relax a little. She wasn’t trying to be mean. But wow, how the awful design of that plane made her reasonable desire to rest in her seat physically painful for me.
- raw_anon_1111 1y agoI am five four as is my wife. I can’t imagine being tall and not paying for seats with more legroom.
- saltcured 1y agoHow would you feel being charged extra for a seat that permits short people to be safely transported?
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago> safely transported? We’re talking about comfort, not safety. (I am struggling to find any reported injuries from reclining accidents.)
- collingreen 1y agoFocusing on this instead of the point (how would you feel if X happened to you instead) feels very corporate America. We're talking about safety, not comfort! They can survive on low oxygen under the plane so put some seats down there!
- ZeroConcerns 1y agoSo, yeah, I recently learned about Westjet while visiting Ireland, and my first thought was "ah, OK, so Canada's RyanAir, eh?" And they seem to be following the very same media playbook: make outrageous statements about some kind of insane fees they're going to introduce (like the famous RyanAir toilet-use add-on) to emphasize how cheap they are. Anyway, the ever-ongoing enshittification in the air-travel space is entirely to blame on the consumers -- the people could stop this nonsense at any time, but apparently they're fine with it, so...
- SketchySeaBeast 1y ago> Anyway, the ever-ongoing enshittification in the air-travel space is entirely to blame on the consumers -- the people could stop this nonsense at any time, but apparently they're fine with it, so... How? I suppose the answer is to stop flying, I basically don't fly already, so that'd be fine with me but, if you are a flyer, in Canada we have Air Canada and Westjet if you're flying domestic. I suppose we could stop buying economy seats, but "premium" doubles the price.
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- Marsymars 1y agoI wish premium were only double the price, I’d exclusively fly premium if that were the case. e.g. checking a random round-trip nonstop YYC<->YHZ flight in a couple months, it’s $687 for economy and $2391 for premium economy.
- SketchySeaBeast 1y agoOh, wow, I didn't know it was that bad, I just looked at YEG -> YYC, again, not much of a flyer, but yeah, your choices are paying truly exorbitant prices or putting up with whatever abuse they want to heap on you. It's not like $687 is in any way cheap.
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago
- lazycouchpotato 1y agoJoining the likes of Spirit Airlines, it seems. It's working out great for them, going through their second bankruptcy in less than 12 months. [1] https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/29/spirit-airlines-chapter-11-bankruptcy.html https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/29/spirit-airlines-chapter-11-b...
- fragmede 1y ago> Spirit Airlines CEO Dave Davis received a $2.9 million retention bonus after the airline's second bankruptcy filing in August 2025 Seems to be working great for the man running the show right now!
- twelve40 1y agodon't get the hate, cheap tix to Vegas were great, now it's less competition, if their plane config was not to your liking you can pay whatever you want for any other airline, don't get the schadenfreude.
- lazycouchpotato 1y agoI don't hate low cost carriers. I absolutely want competition. I was flying Spirit quite frequently. I'm well prepped. I have a backpack that is the maximum size allowed as a personal item, I carry an empty water bottle and a meal from home. They have an option where you can bid on exit row and big seats in advance. I'd bid the lowest amount ($4-10) and almost always win the upgrade. Not everyone is aware of this though. I dislike businesses that prey on customers' lack of knowledge to bombard them with fees. The guy next to me on a flight last year got hit with a $80 fee at the gate because his bag was an inch or so too big. It was his first time flying Spirit. It was cheaper for him to discard that bag and purchase a smaller bag for the flight back. How much more nickel and diming is there left to be done? Standing seats? [1] Very anecdotal evidence, but I was on a trip last week and Spirit was more expensive than American which is what I chose. I'm not loyal to any airline. No one was at the gate hounding at people for bag sizes. I had Wi-Fi on the plane and got a drink and a small snack. My knees also appreciated the slightly longer legroom. [1] https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/standing-seats-budget-airlines https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/standing-seats-budge...
- tayo42 1y agoAn airline for the people that think you should never recline your seat. This isnt a problem right? Lol
- Marsymars 1y agoI’m stuck flying with Westjet for many routes because I’m Calgary-based and the inconvenience of non-direct flights is almost always greater than the inconvenience of poor seating/service/whatever - but Porter Airlines is expanding and is my first choice if I can fly direct with them. (Or Air North - very limited service, but my favourite North American airline. Great service, they’ll pre-prep meals for you if you have dietary restrictions, their economy snack is a lovely warmed-up cookie, and they serve local beer and coffee from the Yukon.)
- csomar 1y ago> the inconvenience of non-direct flights I am wondering if I am in the minority here but I always pick non-direct flights and not just because they are cheaper. I have a hard time spending 7-8 hours straight cramped up in a seat. I'd rather split that into two 4-4 flights.
- SketchySeaBeast 1y agoI think you probably are, you've turned the flight into 4-4 flights plus layover, which you need to overbudget in case of delays on flight #1, and you risk flight #2 getting cancelled while you're in the air, not to mention doubling the chance of lost luggage.
- csomar 1y agoI wonder if this has to do with American Airports. I've been flying for over a decade and quite extensively for the last 4 years. I've only lost a baggage in the US (newark) and I've only taken a dozen flights or so on the continental US. Most US airports are also quite unfriendly for layovers.
- Marsymars 1y agoIn practice I haven't found that I can do a 7-8 hour flight in two 4-4 flights. My most-frequently flown route direct is 5 hours even. The shortest-duration non-direct flight is 4:23 with a 67 minute stopover and then a 1:32 flight. And I effectively lose 20 minutes off the start/end of each flight where I can't use my tablet/laptop with headphones.
- jmward01 1y agoSelling discomfort is the business model. Make it so terrible of an experience that people are forced to pay more. Too bad North America (Yes, I AM lumping a bunch of countries together here) doesn't understand the value of trains and doesn't invest in them.
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago> Make it so terrible of an experience that people are forced to pay more This is ahistoric. Flying started out comfortable and expensive. (Though I’d argue a first-class seat in an unpressurized cabin flying through the weather was less comfortable than a modern economy seat flying over it.) Airlines fought to find ways to make tickets cheaper because a vast majority of flyers choose the cheapest ticket on checkout. (There are legitimate issues with add-on fee transparency. But even after accounting for that, most travelers —until super recently—chose the cheapest ticket.) > doesn't understand the value of trains I’m not seeing that many WestJet routes across which a train would make sense? It certainly wouldn’t be cheaper.
- quotemstr 1y agoThey're just doing price discrimination (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_discrimination https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_discrimination). It's economically efficient to match customers with their precise ability to pay, right? Sure. Yet what economists and policymakers often can't or won't understand is that slight pricing inefficiency are a load-bearing parts of a happy and productive society. When you slice and dice every market segment such that everyone gets a product with just barely positive ROI, you spread cynicism, misery, and a zero-sum mindset and you actually reduce overall productivity. Yeah, okay, if you require as policy that seats decline and people have a certain amount of legroom, prices might rise a bit, and on the margin, people would take fewer trips and thereby GDP would tick lower or something. So what? Letting people feel a shred of dignity while flying is worth perhaps reducing total trips by some infinitesimal percentage of it reduces the overall misery of society. The crappy thing about enshittification is we're all part of the same system and participate in the same economy. Hyperoptimization for cost is spiritually shitting where you eat.
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago> what economists and policymakers often can't or won't understand is that slight pricing inefficiency are a load-bearing parts of a happy and productive society It’s called friction and it’s amply modelled in economics. (Luxury is in many cases exemption from transactional friction.) > Letting people feel a shred of dignity while flying is worth perhaps reducing total trips taken by some infinitesimal percentage In aggregate, you reduce trips flown minimally. On the individual level, you’re pricing certain families out of flying.
- quotemstr 1y ago> In aggregate, you reduce trips flown minimally. On the individual level, you’re pricing certain families out of flying. True. Don't we tacitly agree as a society, in other contexts, that certain experiences aren't worth having at all if they're below some quality threshold? We have minimum wages and we don't let people sell cars made of cardboard, even to those otherwise unable to buy transportation. I'm not sure economists have properly modeled the mass psychic effects of enshittification or, more generally, model the morale and spirit of the people as a proper factor of production.
- badc0ffee 1y agoThis is notable because Westjet is not an ultra low-cost airline. It's one of Canada's two major carriers. For daytime flights within North America, I have to say I haven't reclined my seat in years. The person in front of me doesn't recline half the time, either. It just seems like there isn't the space for it, and it barely makes a difference in comfort, anyway. It's not like reclining increases legroom. So, I can see where Westjet is coming from. (I think I might change my tune if I was on flight long enough to sleep/nap on.)
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- mikewarot 1y agoI'm sure there are some lawyers already doing research for the class action lawsuit that's going to result from increased cases of deep vein thrombosis this will cause.
- devn0ll 1y agoI ask the person behind me if they would mind me reclining. They've never said no, and both parties now feel better. I'm not "intruding" in their personal space as much, since I asked. I wish people would talk to each other more.