Looking Up to New Cabins in the Sky

American Airlines’ highly touted recent announcement that it plans to rip out thousands of coach seats to provide more legroom in coach class is just one of several seating reconfigurations in the industry--not all favorable. Recent changes:

* American is promising to expand the seat pitch (distance between seat backs) to 34 inches and more, up from the industry standard of 31 to 32 inches, by taking out more than 7,000 seats in more than half its coach sections fleet-wide. It says it expects to complete work on about half its domestic jets this summer, with the rest, including international flights, to be finished next year. United Airlines already has Economy Plus, a subclass of coach with more legroom offered on a first-come, first-served basis to full-fare coach passengers and its most frequent fliers, on about 40% of its U.S. fleet.

* British Airways recently said it would create a fourth seating class (besides coach, business and first) called World Traveller Plus--the first carrier to offer four cabins on a world network, it claims. The new cabin has wider seats, more legroom (38 inches versus 31 inches for BA’s coach) and better food service than in coach, and passengers can carry on twice as much luggage.

The new class, expected to be available in July, will cost about 20% more than coach. BA also promises to install seats for business-class passengers that fold flat into beds. The changes are part of nearly $1 billion BA plans to spend on refurbishments in an effort to boost sagging profits.

* Boeing 737 aircraft in the newer 700 and 800 series, disliked by many coach travelers for the narrow seats and scarce lavatories but favored by airlines for fuel efficiency, are seeing more service on long-haul flights, including transcontinental flights, that prolong the discomfort, Consumer Reports Travel Letter says. In the past, the planes were used mostly for short- and medium-range flights. Their coach seats are typically 17 inches wide, versus 18.5 on many long-distance jets. And many 737 coach cabins have one lavatory per 75 passengers versus one per 45 on some Boeing 767 and 777 aircraft, Consumer Reports adds.