I recently flew from Dallas to San Francisco on an American Airlines 737.
The airplane was full, as many flights have been this summer. But as I walked down the aisle, I noticed a handful of middle seats that were blocked by inserts that looked something like the child-seat boosters you see at restaurants.
These inserts were shaped to fit the seat and bolted to the arms. Each had two small round depressions for cups, like the fold-down trays in front.
I saw the same inserts on my return trip. With that flight sold out, too, and the airline in bankruptcy, I wondered why managers would choose to give up some much-needed revenue.
After all, I had been told by an industry analyst that airlines currently are making a fairly small profit on each flight, equal to what was paid by just a few ticket holders, if the plane was full.
When I got back, I did a little digging and found there indeed was a strategy at work here.
The blocked seats, it turns out, are the result of two factors. One is the airline's "main cabin extra" program, which allows coach fliers to pay a fee to sit on a row with slightly more leg room. The second is that the financially strapped airline is trying to control labor costs.
The latter reason is perhaps the most fascinating. Federal law requires a commercial flight to carry at least one flight attendant for every 50 seats. By blocking a few spots on a 737, American can transport 150 people and get by with a cabin crew of three instead of four.
Apparently, the airline has put a pencil to paper and figured out that it is more profitable to reduce manpower than to fill a few extra seats.
Seating is something that airlines always are experimenting with.
Remember during the last decade when American tried reconfiguring many of its airplanes to offer more legroom in each row? The move came at a time when there was more capacity, meaning many flights had seats to spare.
But as the industry reduced the size of its fleets, American wound up putting back many of those seats and scrunching them up again.
Now, if you want a few inches of additional leg room, you're going to pay for it.
American Airlines spokesman Matt Miller, who solved the missing-seat mystery for me, said the latest configuration for 737s may not be permanent.
"We are continuously evaluating our needs and the market," he said.
As for me, I really don't care what seat I'm in - window, middle, aisle - or how much leg room I have. The flight is only going to last a couple of hours. I realize the current focus of the industry is not on comfort, and I accept that.
Apparently not everyone shares this attitude. On my Dallas-Tulsa flight, a handicapped gentleman had pre-boarded and mistakenly sat in my window seat. I took the aisle instead, but soon was confronted by a twitchy man with his nose in the air who insisted he had to have that exact spot.
"That's what I signed up for," he said in a huff, even after the handicapped man's situation was whispered to him.
There was no extra leg room to be had, no middle-seat insert for elbow room. Just a number and letter on a piece of paper.
So, we all got up and moved, handicapped traveler included, so Mr. Picky could have his precious seat for the 40-minute flight.
As a friend of mine likes to say, "Jeeze, Louise."
Original Print Headline: Case of empty airline seats boils down to money
Column - Stancavage
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For the past few years, Wall Street has been a tough road to maneuver, full of potholes and the wreckage of once-successful companies.
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