American Airlines Will Shrink Legroom in Coach — Again
Skift Take
We'll reserve judgement until we try the seats. Maybe American has developed a special seat that makes passengers feel as if they have more legroom than they do. But that's probably unlikely. American's passengers should prepare for a squeeze.
United States airline passengers have had a lot to complain about in the past three weeks, but they can soon add one more thing to the list: Later this year, American Airlines will give some passengers nearly as little legroom as some of the most aggressive discount airlines.
An American spokesman said Tuesday that the carrier's Boeing 737 Max jets, the first of which should arrive later this year, will have only 30 inches of seat pitch in most coach seats, giving passengers an inch less space than in the airline's older model 737s.
Worse, "up to three rows" will have 29-inch pitch, roughly equivalent to what ultra-low-cost carriers, including Frontier Airlines, give passengers. Except for the discounters — they g