Almost Half of Economy Class Flyers Now Willing to Pay More for Space

Business travelers are tired of their economy class seats and spending more time and money researching how squeezed they’ll be on their next flight.

Forty-one percent of economy passengers are willing to pay more to get better comfort within economy class and 34 percent of frequent travelers say they research seat size (think SeatGuru and RouteHappy) before purchasing a flight.

This is according to a Airbus survey of 1,052 long-haul economy class passengers at airports in Singapore, Paris, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam.

Despite the mounting luxury of business class amenities, the reality is that up to 70 percent of economy class flyers are traveling for business. And they’re among the most impacted once on the ground and expected to perform.

According to the survey, the top three complaints about economy class seats are discomfort during sleep, back aches, and leg aches.

Eighty-nine percent of economy flyers use social media and turn to the networks to complain about the uncomfortable, but more affordable, seats.

Too bad these economy class seats that can be customized to flyers’ width won’t appear any time soon.