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JetBlue Will Shrink Legroom, Add Bag Fees, Reduce Dignity
By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 19, 2014
Modified Nov 19, 2014
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By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 19, 2014
Modified Nov 19, 2014
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JetBlue, one of the last major U.S. commercial airlines to allow passengers to check their first bag free of charge, has decided to go ahead and stop doing that. The Queens-based company is also adding another 15 seats to its Airbus A320, reducing its widely advertised leg room by almost 5% to 33.1 inches per seat. Since flying coach keeps getting worse, maybe we should just be thankful for what we have—future generations will no doubt envy our luxuriant "seated" air travel.
JetBlue will now create three fare classes, and only the most expensive two classes will include at least one free checked bag. The exact cost of the checked bag fee was not announced, but JetBlue has indicated that the cheapest tickets will also come with less flexibility on changing a reservation.
The changes are motivated by JetBlue's attempt to improve its "lagging financials," according to the Wall Street Journal, which reports that following the announcement, the company's shares were up 2.5% to $13.04 in midmorning trading. JetBlue estimates that making air travel shittier will boost its "annual operating income by about $450 million by 2017, including $200 million annually from the new fare classes and $100 million annually from the new seats," the Journal reports.
Southwest Airlines is now the last major U.S. commercial airline to allow passengers to fly without paying for the first checked bag. Unfortunately, they don't allow lesbian PDA.
Tagged
air travel
airfare
flying
jetblue
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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