Slimmer seats installed on Alaska Airlines’ new Boeing jets will add an inch more legroom for coach passengers, the airline said Tuesday.
The new seats will be installed on new Boeing 737-900ER jets Alaska will receive from Boeing beginning this fall through 2014.
Built by German seatmaker Recaro, the leather-covered seats are slimmer, thus giving passenger an additional inch of legroom without reducing the capacity of the aircraft, the airline said.
The new seat design also moves the magazine pocket on the seatback upward to just under the tray table to make more room for passengers’ knees.
The thinner seats are just as comfortable as the seats they replace, said the airline, despite less padding.
In addition to offering passengers more room, the new seats will weigh less, increasing the planes’ fuel economy. The lighter seats should save the airline about 8,000 gallons of fuel per aircraft per year.
A larger version of the new seats will also be installed in the aircrafts’ first class section.
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