‘It’s disheartening:’ WestJet to charge for reclined seats starting this month

WestJet plans to remove the recline option from some of its economy seats.

WestJet passengers will soon notice changes to some flights, as the airline prepares to reconfigure 43 acquired aircraft that are currently all-economy.

The airline says as part of a “cabin refresh” they will be adjusting some Boeing 737-8 MAX and 737-800 aircraft to remove the recline option from some seats.

Jennifer Booth, the senior manager of media relations for WestJet, told CTV News in an email there “is not a fee to recline.”

“Part of this reconfiguration includes new standard economy seats (that) are inclusive of a slight recline that cannot be adjusted,” said Booth.

However, to manually recline on those flights, and have extra space, passengers will likely have to purchase an upgraded seat.

“Its disheartening,” says retail analyst Bruce Winder. “It seems like over the last 20-to-30 years, what airlines have done is sort of piece out different parts of the flight experience and charge customers for different parts, sort of like an a la carte menu.”

Winder says, much like the recent adoption of carry-on bag fees, passengers will adapt to these changes.

“Canadians get angry, they talk about it, and then it becomes normalized, and they just accept it. And they say, ‘OK, I don’t have a choice anyways,’’’ says Winder. “They grumble a bit, but they just use the airline anyway. That’s sort of the cycle. And that’s what airlines count on.”

Heather Douglas, a traveller at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport, says the change will impact whether she flies with WestJet moving forward.

“It boggles the mind that any airline would consider that an OK policy. WestJet used to promote itself as the friendliest airline in the sky, and now they just seem to be downright hostile,” says Douglas.

Gabor Lukacs, the president of Air Passenger Rights, says these reconfigurations could cause legal concerns.

“What concerns me WestJet is maybe discriminating against passengers based on their immutable characteristics,” says Lukacs. “It may be discriminatory against those passengers who are simply too tall to fit into those seats. WestJet cannot and must not be allowed to charge extra fees just because someone is taller. That’s not permitted under the law. It is one thing to charge for extra comfort, but they cannot charge for extra height.”

The first aircraft with the new configurations is expected to enter service later this month, with the remaining 42 aircraft expected to be complete early next year.