Airline passenger news and views

There is nothing more effective to ruin your pre-flight mood than the stress of finding a decent seat when boarding a plane - especially if you are travelling with a companion.

Now easyJet seems to rebel against that golden rule for budget airlines, announcing that it is to trial allocated seating on selected routes from Spring 2012.

The current system, in which passengers choose their seats when they board the plane, reminds one of the social Darwinism mantra of "only the strong survives" - attenuated only for those having purchased speedy boarding for an additional £13, or travelling with young children and having first choice.

The good news is that passengers to take part in the trial are not expected to pay for their seats unless they opt for the beloved first few rows and seats by the emergency exits. In that case they will be charged.

EasyJet also promises that passengers on the same booking who have not preselected a seat will be allocated seats next to each other where possible.

Carolyn McCall, easyJet CEO, said: "This is another example of easyJet trying to do all it can to make travel easy and affordable for our passengers. We look forward to seeing how our passengers respond and how the trial works.

We will roll it out further only if it works operationally, from a revenue perspective and increases passenger satisfaction. If it doesn't, we won't."

With this proposal, the carrier goes one step further than its main competitor Ryanair, which charges for a place in the front row already.

The allocated seating scheme was announced at the same time that the airline revealed a rise in profits - an underlying profit before tax up by £60 million to £248 million despite a £100 million increase in unit fuel costs.

EasyJet results for the year ended on 30 September 2011 show that passenger numbers rose 11.8% to 54.5 million. Non British passengers account for 56% of the total, an increase of 3 percentage points compared to the prior year. Besides, passengers travelling with easyJet on business increased by almost one million to 9.5 million.

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