Comments on: One Elite Benefit That Would Help Bring Back Airline Passengers

By: United Airlines Wants Vaccinated-Only Seating Sections But Says Government Won't Allow It - View from the Wing

Thu, 29 Apr 2021 21:06:06 +0000

[…] would be a more interesting seating concept is middle seat blocking as an elite benefit, something United Airlines used to […]

By: Very Cool: American Airlines Texting Elites As They Head To The Airport, May Even Block Middle Seats - View from the Wing

Sat, 27 Feb 2021 00:36:04 +0000

[…] seat blocking is something I suggested at the start of the pandemic as as an elite benefit airline should consider because it’s low cost to offer (it just prioritizes elites as the ones to get empty seats […]

By: What Should Loyalty Programs Do While People Aren't Traveling? - View from the Wing

Wed, 01 Apr 2020 16:00:04 +0000

[…] should announce middle seat blocking as a new elite benefit to give their best customers comfort when they […]

By: 12 Things To Expect When People Start Flying Again - View from the Wing

12 Things To Expect When People Start Flying Again - View from the Wing — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 18:36:04 +0000

[…] norms will be sticky. We might keep washing our hands more, we’ll value personal space more (airlines that make middle seat blocking an elite benefit will attract customers, and we’ll all be much more comfortable with videoconferencing. That could mean some trips at […]

By: Bubba

Bubba — Fri, 20 Mar 2020 21:53:30 +0000

As FB Plat, I can say that AF definitely tries to give me a shadow in Y. When traveling with my spouse on separate tickets, I’ve changed seats at check-in to a window on an empty row. Switch to my spouse, and mysteriously the middle seat shows up as occupied. I’ve also had mysterious coincidence ‘only empty middle seat on the flight” happen to me regularly on AF and DL longhaul. KL, not so much (probably because they run E+, which is basically a concession to being the country with the tallest people in the world).

That said, it doesn’t happen with enough regularity that you could bank on it, let alone advertise it. But I see it happening often enough to appreciate it.

By: RF

RF — Fri, 20 Mar 2020 21:44:31 +0000

An airlines that gives all passengers 6′ of space will win all the customers.

By: UA-NYC

UA-NYC — Fri, 20 Mar 2020 20:51:17 +0000

Fat chance – even when there were open seats the past couple weeks, I still saw UA fill open middles E+ first for no-status standbys (when they should have started at regular E first).

By: Blackpond

Blackpond — Fri, 20 Mar 2020 19:41:25 +0000

Back when I was AAdvantage Gold, that was my favorite perk. Unfortunately I don’t fly enough now for it to matter.

By: john

john — Fri, 20 Mar 2020 19:09:46 +0000

If the purpose is to bring back passengers, it seems you wouldn’t need the benefit of an empty middle seat unless passengers were already coming back. There are more than enough empty seats on many flights as is.

Although with so many flight cancellations and frequency reductions, some flights are crowded. On March 12, Cathay Pacific cancelled my flight from BKK to HKG and rebooked me for the following day. Every seat in premium economy on that flight was occupied unlike the very light load on the flight from HKG to BKK 10 days before. Even though the incidence of Covid-19 in Thailand was exceedingly low at that time, being so close to others was a bit scary. It is no fun when passengers regard each other as threats. The feeling on that flight and in domestic first on AA was more tense than after 9/11.

By: john

john — Fri, 20 Mar 2020 19:09:46 +0000