Los Angeles — Not every economy seat is created equal.
Starting later this year, United Airlines plans to charge an extra fee for economy seats that are near the front of the plane but otherwise look and feel like any other coach seat.
United Airlines President Scott Kirby discussed the new fee last week with reporters at the International Aviation Forecast Summit in Denver.
“We’ve got ‘Economy Plus’ today, which has more legroom, but there are also rows that don’t have more legroom but they are at the front of the airplane,” he told the travel website Skift. “We are now going to let those people select those seats as well for a fee.”
Economy Plus seats offer up to 5 more inches of legroom than regular economy seats. Behind those seats are a row of seats that the airline will call “select standard” economy seats because they are closer to the front of the plane.
