Midwest Air squeezing some seats

Updated: August 25, 2008 - 8:35 PM

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Midwest Airlines, the regional airline known in part for coach-class seats that are more spacious than its competitors', is replacing them with narrower seats in the back half of its Boeing 717 fleet.

Wisconsin-based Midwest, which is cutting jobs and grounding a third of its fleet to slash costs, is making the move to help boost revenue. The new seating configurations are for flights starting Oct. 21.

Narrower rear-cabin chairs with about 4 inches less legroom will make space for 11 more passengers than the current 88-seat setup, Midwest said Monday in an e-mailed statement. The front cabin will still have two seats on each side of the aisle, while the back will have three on one side and two on the other.

The carrier, which has been planning the two different types of seats for more than a year, is spending an unspecified amount to add the seats even as it parks all 12 Boeing MD-80 jets and pares jobs. Higher costs and limited ability to raise fares in markets where discount carriers compete prompted the change, Midwest said.

"It was harder and harder for us to justify giving that premium" of more spacious seats to all passengers, Randy Smith, vice president of sales, said in a telephone interview.

Midwest Air is still calling the seats in front of the plane "coach" class, to avoid possible problems with corporate travel policies that won't allow travelers to fly first class.

"This is a coach seat, it's a better coach seat, but it's still a coach seat," Smith said.

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