While most airlines are squeezing every millimeter out of its seats and its legroom, Jet Blue Airways is widening the seats from 32 to 36 inches on its all-economy class, single-aisle Airbus 320s.
Jet Blue is also going to remove a row of seats, so it can carry 150 passengers vs. 156 per plane. That will enable it to have one fewer flight attendants, so they’ll save some money.
Genius
I’m not sure if the numbers are wrong, or what, but a plane with 156 seats still requires 4 flight attendants. The total number of seats would have to be 149 or less to cut that down to 3 flights attendants.
The crew to seats ratio is determined by federal regulation.
Mary Jo:
Thanks for your comment. I’ve fixed the link to the source story, which clarifies your issue: “JetBlue says it can remove seats and still make money because of the configuration of the narrow-body A320. Taking out a row of seats will allow the New York discount carrier to accommodate 150 passengers, down from 156, in each plane. By flying with 150 or fewer seats, JetBlue needs only three flight attendants rather than the four that federal regulations require on an aircraft with more than 150 seats. By saving a flight attendant’s salary, JetBlue says it can still make money.”
Best regards,
Gil Zeimer