Airlines Embrace Social Distancing by Avoiding Middle Seats

Most travellers dislike being placed in the middle seat on a plane. Fortunately, this won’t be an issue in the immediate future on some flights. Several airlines have made the decision to avoid placing passengers in the dreaded centre seat temporarily to help curb the spread of COVID-19.

The airlines adjusting their seating arrangements to facilitate social distancing include Qantas, Delta, Alaska, and Spirit. Moreover, American Airlines has opted to leave 50% of its middle seats vacant, while JetBlue is not assigning passengers to around a third of its seats to ensure distance among customers not travelling together. Additionally, airlines are safeguarding attendants by maintaining a distance between passenger seating and flight attendants’ pull-down seats.

Spacing passengers out has been easier in many ways due to a significant decrease in travel volume. However, the challenge for airlines is that keeping a third of seats empty adversely affects the load factor necessary for covering costs. While this practice is essential for the current situation, travel experts are questioning what the future holds. It’s suspected that if this practice continues, ticket prices may rise to compensate for the revenue shortfall.

For those who must travel, enjoying an extra space beside them is a delightful bonus, something more appreciated during current times. In fact, sitting next to an empty seat has become so desirable that one airline introduced a new fare last year which guarantees an empty middle seat beside you on a short-haul trip, ensuring passengers can avoid uncomfortable encroachments during the flight.