British Airways is increasing the size of economy class seats after passengers complained about cramped conditions.
A new generation of Boeing 787 Dreamliners is being introduced with seats half an inch wider than present models. BA is also giving passengers an extra inch of leg room.
The changes, to be introduced later this year, are being made after the company admitted that seating arrangements on new planes “felt a bit tight”.
Travellers had complained that the company, along with other airlines using the Dreamliner, had tried to squeeze too many seats into economy class, with rows of nine rather than the eight featured in the original designs.
The SeatGuru website, owned by TripAdvisor, received numerous complaints that economy-class seats on the Boeing 787-8 were too small.
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One passenger who flew from Philadelphia to Heathrow said: “The seat was so narrow that I could barely operate my eating utensils. My sleeping pills were little match for the BA design engineers’ space economics calculations in the battle for comfort.”
Another wrote: “I have flown in many aircraft for more than 50 years but this was the most cramped flight I have ever experienced.”
A third passenger said: “They are thin, narrow and uncomfortable . . . leg room is laughable.”
BA says it has altered seating arrangements on the new generation of Boeing 787-9 aircraft being delivered over the next few years. The 154 existing economy-class seats, which are 16.8in wide, will become 17.3in wide in the new model. It will bring economy seats into line with those on many other airlines’ Dreamliners, which range from 17in to 18.5in.
The space between the back of one seat and the back of the one in front will increase from 31in to 32in, giving passengers more leg room.
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BA will keep seats in rows of nine, three sets of three, but introduce narrower aisles to allow for the wider seats. It is one of a series of changes being introduced on the new generation Dreamliner. It will also be 20ft longer to create a new first-class cabin.
BA will get 22 new 787-9s by 2018, with the first one being delivered by the end of next month. Its class of 787-8 Dreamliners will get new fittings over time to bring them up to the standards in the new model.
Kathryn Doyle, BA’s cabin interiors manager, said: “Colleagues shared feedback from customers on the Boeing 787-8, who said the seats felt a bit tight.”
She told BA’s in-house magazine: “We listened and challenged our seat supplier to come up with a solution that would achieve parity with competitors and satisfy customers. The result is a seat that is half an inch wider, which we believe will improve customer comfort.”
In a further move, BA is revamping 18 of its Boeing 747s “in response to customer demand”. This includes a new entertainment system, a power socket at every seat and new covers.