Airline will leave middle seats empty to create premium seating

When Mark Kolke books flights from Calgary to Hawaii for his vacation, he keeps his mind on the Pacific paradise and blocks out memories of being trapped in the dreaded middle seat on the plane

But relief could be on its way for Kolke and other customers of the Canadian airline WestJet. WestJet, which does not offer business class, is planning a trial project to designate an "empty middle-seat zone"in the first eight to 10 rows of its single-aisle planes between Calgary and Hawaii, as well as Edmonton and Hawaii, perhaps charging a fee of at least $20 one-way to sit in those rows.

For WestJet, it's an attempt to turn what appears to be a negative — no long-range jets in its fleet — into a positive by rethinking the space inside its medium-range Boeing 737-700s.

In one fell swoop, by not filling those middle seats, WestJet lessens the plane's flying weight, saves on fuel costs and — most important — complies with aviation safety rules.

When the new nonstop routes are introduced in March, WestJet's plan will deliberately leave 16 to 20 middle seats vacant on its 136-seat Boeing 737-700s, guaranteeing passengers a bit more room to stretch.

"It sounds a little strange, but sometimes goofy ideas work,"said Kolke, a Calgary commercial real estate agent who travels regularly to Maui.

For the past four years, WestJet has operated the shorter Vancouver-Hawaii route, and that option to stop over in Vancouver will remain for Albertans. But instead of forking over big money for long-range planes, WestJet favors limiting the number of travelers on its Boeing 737s on the Alberta-Hawaii nonstop runs.

The carrier would lighten the weight on board to save on fuel consumption for the new seasonal flights across the Pacific Ocean, a fuel cushion that's required, for instance, in case headwinds or other incidents force a flight to be diverted back to North America.

Without spending a nickel to spruce up the interior, WestJet, the airline that launched in 1996 with three planes serving a handful of cities in western Canada, will be able to create a "premium economy"section while sticking to its casual corporate culture, which shuns business class.

Bob Cummings, WestJet's executive vice-president of guest experience and marketing, said the airline wouldn't put up a curtain to separate those at the front from the remaining rows on the Boeing 737-700s.

"It's an opportunity for us to do some trials without jeopardizing our business model. It's a small-scale approach,"he said.

Jason Brisbois, an economist, said he would be willing to purchase the certainty of more space on flights to Maui with his wife, Ruth.

"When I book a long flight with my wife, we book the window and aisle, and hope the middle seat stays vacant, so we have more room for our books, beverages and iPods. But that doesn't always happen,"Brisbois said. "I'm a big proponent of anything that brings civility back to airline travel.

"If WestJet wants to keep that middle seat empty, I'm all in favor."

Drew Magill, director of commercial airplane marketing at Boeing Co., said he admires WestJet for coming up with an innovative way to stretch the flying range of the Boeing 737-700.