Airlines don’t have to tell you how much legroom you’ll have on your flight. Here’s what you need to know

Economy seating on a flight tends to be a squeeze for most, but on some planes, it’s gotten tighter than usual. The kicker? You likely won’t be able to tell when you’re booking your ticket, because airlines don’t have to tell you upfront. 

Frequent WestJet flyer Alexandra West said in an interview with CBC News that she first noticed she couldn’t comfortably fit in their economy seats last year. 

“I used to love WestJet because I would buy their economy tickets, and I would have about two inches of clearance in front of my knee. So it was comfortable. It was just fine,” West, who is a veterinarian living in central Alberta, said. “But now, I cannot sit in those seats with my legs straight forward.”

WestJet’s new seat configuration rollout has been a hot topic after a video showing an Alberta family’s cramped seating situation on a recent flight went viral. The video, posted by Amanda Schmidt, who goes by the username @amanda_rae.13 on TikTok, showed her father struggling to fit his legs in his seat. 

Although WestJet did not respond to a request for an interview in time for publication of this story, the airline said in a previous email statement to CBC News that the airplane in the video was part of its “newly reconfigured aircraft.”

The airline said in order to make air travel more available, it was trying new products, such as changing the seat pitch on certain rows in some of its aircraft to accommodate an extra row.

Seat pitch is the measure of distance from the back of a seat to the back of the seat in front of it. The standard seat pitch for Canadian airlines is 30 inches. The seat pitch of some rows of economy seating in WestJet’s reconfigured aircrafts was reduced to 28 inches. 

West said the airline didn’t inform her about the difference in seat pitch when she was booking her flight. 

“I actually did another booking today. It does not advertise what the pitch is for the ticket that you’re buying. All it does is offer you to upgrade if you would prefer more legroom. It says upgrades on average give you an extra three inches of legroom, but it doesn’t specify what that number is,” West said. 

John Gradek, an aviation expert at McGill University, said there are no current requirements for airlines to let passengers know what the pitch of their seat will be when booking a flight.

“When you make a reservation … there is no direct statement saying the seat you’ve requested or that you’ve been assigned is a 28-inch pitch,” Gradek said. “And that that carries with it some level of comfort that you know, you would have to judge whether that comfort is acceptable to you or not.”

He added that this is different from some low-cost European airlines, which “very, very clearly identify” that their seats are 28-inch pitch, even advertising it, when customers are booking flights. 

Captain Jacob Astin, chair of the WestJet Master Executive Council, which represents all WestJet pilots said in a previous statement to CBC News that although the 28-inch pitch seats are Transport Canada-approved, they could reduce “superior safety margins of previous layouts due to cramping.”

In a statement to CBC News, a Transport Canada representative said WestJet’s modifications are compliant with federal safety regulations, which do not specify a minimum seat pitch.

Gradek said the smaller spacing could pose challenges for some passengers in an emergency evacuation. “If you’re of a moderate or a larger size, sitting in those seats, that egress in the event of an emergency and preparing for an emergency would be very difficult,” he said.

In addition evacuation concerns in the event of an emergency, some passengers are worried about the exacerbation of health risks caused by sitting in a tight space for a prolonged period of time, such as blood clots.

Emily Jansson, a legal analyst in Kingston, Ont., said she suffered a cardiac arrest mid-flight due to developing a blood clot while travelling from Toronto to Dubai last year. 

“I was cramped up for 10 hours. I was on the window seat with people beside me, and I honestly fell asleep. I watched a movie. I didn’t get up, I didn’t really stretch or anything, and when I did get up, when I went to go to the bathroom, finally, again, 10 hours into the flight, I collapsed and went into a cardiac arrest,” Jansson told CBC News. 

She later found out that a blood clot had formed in her leg due to being “cramped for so long,” which then travelled to her lungs, causing her to have a pulmonary embolism and go into cardiac arrest. 

Jansson said she flew in economy class on an Air Canada flight, which has not introduced aircraft with changed seat pitch.

“By shrinking legroom, they’re effectively making it harder for passengers to follow official health guidance from entities like the World Health Organization,” Jansson said. The World Health Organization advises that people move their legs frequently when travelling for more than four hours. 

“Beyond just obviously the comfort concerns — it doesn’t look like a very comforting and comfortable ride — there’s also the health component of it,” Jansson said. 

Gradek said there should be regulations to establish a basic level of service provided as part of an economy class flight ticket, including seat pitch. 

“I’m saying, let’s do this in Canada, because I think we need it,” Gradek said. “Otherwise, it’s the Wild West.”