What to know
- A viral TikTok showing passengers struggling with limited legroom on a WestJet flight has sparked widespread debate about comfort, safety and airline seating standards.
- WestJet says the aircraft featured is newly reconfigured to offer lower fares, with varying seat pitches depending on seat type and price point.
- The airline maintains the design meets safety regulations, while passengers, especially taller travellers, question whether the reduced space goes too far.
A recent video taken by a WestJet passenger has people asking a big question: Where did the legroom go?
A viral TikTok video shows a couple on a WestJet flight struggling to get comfortable due to limited legroom.
“New planes, you have to pay for the other leg,” the woman in the video joked.
“Do better. My poor dad. The seats should at least fit normal-sized humans. Shout out to Yamy, who was THE BEST flight attendant and did everything she could to make the flight more comfortable,” reads the caption of the TikTok video, which had amassed over one million views at the time of publication.
“There needs to be some federal regulations on how much room should be allowed! I can’t see how this is safe,” another person on TikTok questioned.
While some are concerned about the way this impacts taller people.
“Well, this just influenced me to look for other flight options, as someone who would normally try to use WestJet as much as possible,” one TikTok user wrote. “This is insane! And instantly made me feel claustrophobic. I can’t imagine my 6’3 husband or 6’5 son having to fly like this. Hard pass.”
“We went to cancun and this was literally what our WestJet leg space was! I’m 5’5 and barely fit my poor 6’4 fiancé could hardly fit and couldn’t sit properly the entire flight,” someone else commented.
This criticism comes after the airline paused the installation of non-reclining seats last month after considerable pushback from travellers who found the seating arrangements uncomfortable.
WEST JET RESPONDS; SAYS IT’S KEEPING COSTS LOW
Now Toronto reached out to WestJet to inquire about the situation, and it said the video shows one of the airline’s newly reconfigured aircraft, designed to make flying more affordable.
“WestJet pioneered making air travel available to more Canadian[s], through our ability to keep costs low and to offer affordable airfares – to continue to do so, we need to try new products,” WestJet representative Julia Kaiser said in an email statement on Monday.
She explained that the new design allows the aircraft to accommodate an extra row by varying seat pitch, AKA the distance between the back of a seat and the back of the seat behind it, between 38 and 28 inches. WestJet currently has 21 planes with this design.
“These pitches are in line with what you’ll find across North American airlines,” Kaiser explained. “We are closely monitoring guest and employee feedback to assess the product’s performance, comfort and suitability, while ensuring our unwavering commitment to safety remains at the forefront of every decision we make.”
She explained that during the reconfiguration, the planes in question underwent an extensive safety and certification process.
“All modifications were completed in accordance with Transport Canada’s rigorous airworthiness standards and WestJet’s own high internal safety requirements.”
The Canadian airline announced that it was redesigning the inside of its Boeing 737-8 MAX and 737-800 planes, with the goal of giving fliers various seating options and, in turn, various price points for airfare.
WestJet’s website shows that in the first and second layout of the new 737-8 MAX configurations, the majority of seats — rows 1-14 and 17-32 – had pitches between 29 and 30 inches. Meanwhile, exit rows (15-16) have a pitch of 38 inches.
On the third layout, the standard pitch for an economy-level seat is between 28-30 inches, while seats in the extended comfort areas have a pitch of 34 inches, and the premium seat pitches are 38 inches. However, those willing to sit in the exit row of economy (13-14) can also enjoy a 38-inch pitch, so it’s worth snagging one of those seats if you can.
The 737-800 planes have four different configurations, which all have standard economy pitch seats in the 28-30 inch range.
Meanwhile, for comparison, Air Canada has two configurations of its Boeing 737-8 MAX, one of which has economy seat pitches of 30 inches in all rows, while the other has pitches of 29 inches.
