Did social media contribute to easyJet’s shift to seat allocation?

by Steve Keenan

Easyjet this week began an interesting experiment, in which passengers were allocated a seat on an aircraft.

I know, I know, it’s a bit of a radical concept isn’t it?

Just fancy, no more shuffling in queues; no more standing for an hour to get a window seat; no more last-minute barging in from the sides.

The airline says it has been listening to customers, which makes for a change. But as the most social media savvy airline based in the UK, perhaps it really has been taking notice.

The man in charge of the UK market, Paul Simmons, told me that social media is linked to everything that the airline does. “We take it very seriously.”

And queuing and jostling for a seat after the security experience at an airport is not top of anybody’s agenda.

“People do want it,” admits Simmons. So the airline is trialling seat allocation five years after it introduced ‘Speedy Boarding’ - in itself a name that has long caused fury on Twitter and message boards.

The experiment has been 18 months in the planning and began on April 24 on flights from Luton to Malaga and Sharm-el-Sheik.

Of course, a cynic would say that it could just be the latest twist in money-raising that the low-cost airlines have dreamed up.

Passengers booked on those two routes are offered allocated seats with extra legroom for £12, or seats in rows 2-5 for £8. Or they can book any other seat for £3. Those who don’t want to pay will still be allocated a seat from those remaining.

As the trial develops, more routes will be added. “We need to see if people want it, how it works,” says Simmons. “It is a risk.”

Well, it’s not a risk in the sense that passengers would prefer a civilised boarding, obviously.

The airline means risk in the sense of slower turnaround times for aircraft and other operational factors, plus loss of income. It’s also a risk in alienating the business passengers it increasingly aspires to attract (the airline’s biz pax now generate 20 per cent of revenue).

It’s a big move by easyJet, however, and there is no halfway house: it will be pre-allocated or back to ‘Speedy Boarding.’

Yet, this feels like people power, partly through social media. The negative noise generated by queues, aggression, split-up families and partitioned buses has been widespread.

And nobody is going to mourn the death of a demeaning system that forces you to pay to avoid the crush and walk in front of others - then be looked at sideways by everyone boarding.

Hail a return to civilised boarding. And hail the power of SM to help force that change.