A week after announcing fees for carry-on bags, Spirit Airlines is taking heat for installing seats that don’t recline on its newest planes.
Spirit’s two new Airbus 320 aircraft feature “pre-reclined” seats, spokeswoman Misty Pinson said Tuesday. That means even Spirit passengers who want to pay for reclining airline seats won’t have that option.
The Miramar-based airline put the first A-320 into service on March 14 for the Fort Lauderdale-Washington, D.C., route. The other arrived last week and currently is being used on flights between Fort Lauderdale and New York’s LaGuardia airport. Two more A-320s will join the company’s fleet this summer, and both will feature the “pre-reclined” seat design, Pinson said.
Some Spirit passengers are complaining the new planes leave them more cramped than ever.
Spirit’s A-320 planes feature 178 seats, including 174 “deluxe leather seats” and 4 “big front seats.” Deluxe leather seats are about 17 1/2 inches wide and have a 28-inch pitch. Seat pitch is the distance from the back of one seat to the front of the other, when the seat is not reclined. It’s considered the best measure of leg room on a plane.
Airbus 320s hold a maximum of 180 seats, though airlines that follow a standard, two-class cabin configuration can only fit 150 seats in the aircraft, according to Airbus marketing materials. Most airlines configure A-320s to have an average seat pitch of at least 30 inches, SeatGuru.com data show.
It’s customary for airline seats to recline. One other airline with stationary seats is low-cost carrier Allegiant Air. The Las Vegas-based airline began testing the seats in 2007. It has rolled out the design in 34 of its 47 aircraft, spokeswoman Sabrina LoPiccolo said in an e-mail Tuesday. Allegiant aircraft feature a 30-inch pitch, according to SeatGuru.com.
Last week, Spirit announced plans to charge passengers for carry-on bags that do not fit under the seat. The fee, which will apply to travel on or after Aug. 1, could cost as much as $45. The move sparked heated debate across the industry and among consumers over the increased costs and hassles of flying.
But Spirit reported ticket sales were up 50 percent the week of the announcement.
(Read More: Sun Sentinel)
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16 Responses
I, along with many prominent and well-known askonim, am currently circulating a kol koreh among many rabbonim, gedolim, and roshei yeshiva to decry not only Spirit Airlines, but the practice of flying, generally. It is a known fact based on the seforim that our ancestors in Europe did not fly, and it is a clear departure from the practices of past generations to do so.
So what’s wrong with ships and trains?????
I am sure Chuck U Schumer is out there somewhere looking for a camera & mic. If anyone is in front of one, consider yourself warned!!
So don’t recline. That’s the Spirit! THE PROBLEM IS THAT PEOPLE WANT TO RECLINE!
I don’t think we should take any of this sitting down. 🙂
Pre-reclined seats? This creates a major problem all year, for the fourth kashe. Besides, you’d have to get off the plane for Maror, and go back for Korech. She-bechol nisivei avir…
all the airlines go bankrupt and make cuts everywhere and they cant figure out how to make money when they have customers sitting perfectly still for 3hour flights. um.. lets see, id rent a computer for about $40, id rent a game boy for about $15, id buy a nice hamburger fries and a dring pay about $20-$25 for that. portable dvd player with my choice of movie -$10, shall i continue…. cant even buy a $1 soda
#1 – Thanks for the good laugh. In Galus we should all decline to recline.
I can just imagine the “rabbonim, gedolim, roshei yeshiva” and our “ancestors” eating sushi, chicken sandwiches & pizza !!!!!!!!!! What an absurd argument.
I will definitely not be flying Spirit during the Pesach seder. What a bunch of anti-semites!
#1 i hope you are kidding, but if your not, the Rabbonim did have internet either and your on it.
If you don’t want to pay all the new Spirit Air fees, bring a folding chair from home(No extra charges) and wear diapers because they charge you $15 for using their bathroom.
Also make sure not to drink coffee because you get on the plane so you will not have to go too often.
It would be convenient if someone would cater sedarim in the Torre Pendente di Pisa, but you’d have to lean the OTHER way for Maror.
they seem to be mean spirited. what’s the groisa tumult? you are prewarned. use another airline. the consumer controls the situation if there is no colusion.
Telegrok, your comment inspired me to choose my user name. Can’t YWN have a filter for morons, mushed brains and telegroks of all sorts pleeeeeeease?
No matter what they do, I have a problem flying an airline with a name like Spirit.