Midwest Airlines announced this afternoon that it is going to modify all of its aircraft to a rather sharply defined set of choices – Signature or Saver. Cookies or no cookies. (Which begs the question of what those poor slobs in the back with their cramped seats are supposed to do when they smell the cookies baking in the front of the aircraft for the pampered Signature flyers, but I digress…)
The dual-seating option will be available this fall on the airline’s MD-80 aircraft and in mid-2008 on its Boeing 717 fleet.
According to the airline,
“In current Saver markets, the company expects to generate additional revenue from the sale of higher-value Signature seats. In current Signature markets, added revenue generation is expected to result from capturing market share currently lost due to lack of capacity in high load factor markets or those that are slot-constrained, like Washington, D.C. Reagan National and New York La Guardia. The added capacity will also provide the seating needed to accommodate passengers connecting from other Midwest Airlines flights, Midwest Connect flights and the new codeshare partnership with Northwest Airlines, as well as additional demand stimulated by the added low-fare Saver seating. Overall, the implementation of seating choices is projected to generate $30-35 million in annualized revenue.”
Wonder what AirTran’s Joe Leonard thinks about all this? I’m sure we’ll find out shortly.
Where do they say the Saver passengers are losing anything?
All passengers will continue to receive free cookies and a choice to purchase a meal or alcoholic beverage as they do now, regardless of where they sit.
The only differences are the seats.
Am I disappointed that Midwest is making this change on its 717s? Yep.
Do I think it was necessary to improve revenue when almost every single passenger is looking for the rock-bottom airfare? Yep.
Does this make Midwest equivalent to AirTran? Nope. Midwest will continue to receive top awards and be one of the best airlines for customer service while AirTran continues to cater to the lowest common denominator of air travel.
Is this a surprise? Not completely. The airline announced months ago that it would install a few rows Signature seats in its MD-80s. The 717 is surprising, but not that unexpected.