The debate raged a few months ago at the start of the pandemic. Should the middle seat in economy class cabins be blocked in order to maintain sufficient sanitary standards? The International Air Transport Association (IATA) raised the issue in April, but changed its mind in May.
During a briefing, IATA's medical adviser, Dr David Powell, presented a number of scientific studies relating to the probability of on-board transmissions. With this conclusion: the plane is still a safe means of transport.
Blocking the middle seat is pointless
The use of HEPA air filters already eliminates 99.97% of bacteria. Added to this is the disinfection of the aircraft after each flight and, above all, limited interaction between passengers, with everyone facing in the same direction. The seats act as a physical barrier between rows. "No-one has demonstrated that keeping the middle seat empty has reduced the chances of covid-19 being transmitted from one passenger to another".
Especially as the cost of such a measure would be catastrophic for passengers. At a time when passengers are finding it difficult to find their way back to the planes, paralysing the middle seat would have resulted in a sharp rise in ticket prices.
With a seat capacity of 62% and an estimated load factor of 85%, the aircraft would have had an average total load factor of only 53%. To make the flight profitable, this would have meant an increase in ticket prices from 43% to 54% according to IATA experts.. In Europe, the average increase was 49%.
American passengers in favour of in-cabin distancing
And yet.., the latest study by American Express Amex Trendex' on global travel trends shows that 63% of US travellers favour blocking the middle seat in economy class for health reasons.
However, this figure seems to have little influence on American airlines. The latter, which had applied the rule of one seat out of two in economy class, have begun to dismantle it.
On 1 July, American Airlines began marketing the middle seat in economy class. United then decided to follow suit. The low-cost carriers Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines have also decided to reintroduce the middle seat.
Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Hawaiian Airlines, Jetblue and Southwest are still applying the one seat per two economy seats rule. However, Alaska, Jetblue and Southwest will abandon this practice between mid and late October. Hawaiian has not yet announced any changes to its in-flight rules.
Only Delta Air Lines has confirmed that it is applying the rule of one seat in two in economy class until the end of January.. Except for groups and families travelling together. Does this decision reflect a genuine concern for passengers' health, or simply a seduction tactic?
At a press conference, United's head of communications described the decision to block the seats as follows: "It's more of a PR strategy than a health strategy", he said, according to Business Insider...
