New WestJet economy seats cause comfort, safety concerns for Regina flyer

A “nightmare” is how Rob Noble of Regina describes the window seat he was assigned on a WestJet economy flight home from Cancun, Mexico.

In recent days, viral videos have been showcasing the struggles of taller passengers in WestJet’s new 28-inch seat pitch rows. Twenty-one WestJet aircraft have been reconfigured with a varying seat pitch.

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The six-foot-two Noble said the flight to Cancun was no problem. He describes himself as a frequent economy-class flyer and had never had an issue until it came time to board the return flight.

“Crawling into that seat was difficult, even just getting into it,” he said. “I’m a tall guy but that’s not crazy tall, and my knees were full-on hitting the seat in front of me.”

Noble feels it was a safety issue as well as one of comfort.

“If you hit an air pocket, some turbulence, I mean, my knees are hitting the metal,” he said. “I had to spread them, and then you’re hitting the joints of the armrest, the metal joints.

“So, if you hit a bump, it’s not going to be great.”

He added it would have been impossible to brace in the event of an emergency.

Noble said a flight attendant, flagged down by his wife, agreed it wasn’t safe and relocated them to an emergency exit row with more leg room.

In an online statement responding to a similar complaint on social media, WestJet said 21 of its aircraft have been reconfigured to accommodate an extra row by varying the seat pitch between 28 and 38 inches.

“WestJet pioneered making air travel available to more Canadian, through our ability to keep costs low and to offer affordable airfares – to continue to do so, we need to try new products,” it said on X.

“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.”

The statement also said the modifications were made in accordance with Transport Canada and company standards.

John Gradek, co-ordinator of the aviation management program at McGill University, said while it was the announcement of non-reclining seats that got most of the attention last year, the reduction in leg suddenly got noticed over the holidays.

“If you’re six-foot-four, slightly over my weight, 100 kilos, as they say in Quebec, bonne chance!” Gradek told the Evan Bray Show on Thursday. “It’s not going to be a very pleasant flight no matter how long you go, whether it’s Calgary or whether it’s to Cancun.”

He said whether WestJet reconsiders will depend on what the competition does.

“Air Canada is reconfiguring its 737 MAX airplanes. They’ve got 50 of them,” he explained. “I have yet to learn from my sources at Air Canada what the seat configuration and the seat pitch will be on those airplanes.