Viral Video Criticizes WestJet's Reduced Legroom Seats

A viral video posted on TikTok on December 27 has ignited widespread criticism of WestJet's newly reconfigured aircraft seats, highlighting severe limitations in legroom that passengers and airline staff say compromise safety and comfort. The clip, filmed by an Alberta woman and viewed more than 1.1 million times, shows her parents struggling to fit into economy seats on a Boeing 737, with their knees pressed tightly against the seat in front. "Impossible to straighten out my knees to the front," the father says in the video, while his wife adds, "I'm going to be sharing my leg space with him."

WestJet announced the seating changes in September, planning to reconfigure 43 Boeing 737 jets by adding an extra row and dividing cabins into multiple tiers to offer more affordable fares. So far, 21 aircraft have the new layout, where more than half of the economy seats provide less legroom than the previous configuration or those on other major Canadian carriers. In the economy section, 12 of the 22 rows feature a 28-inch seat pitch, the distance from one point on a seat to the same point on the seat ahead, compared to 29 or 30 inches on many competitors' lower-tier options. These...