CAA in seat allocation review

Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has launched a review of airline allocated seating polices after conducting consumer research that showed the current approach to allocated seating is causing confusion.

Andrew Haines, CAA chief executive said: “Airlines are within their rights to charge for allocated seats, but if they do so it must be done in a fair, transparent way.  Our research shows that some consumers are paying to sit together when, in fact, they might not need to.

“It also suggests that consumers have a better chance of being sat together for free with some airlines than with others.

“Findings from our research show that UK consumers collectively may be paying between £160-390m per year for allocated seating. Of those paying, two-thirds spent between £5 and £30 per seat and a further 8% paid £30 or more.

“As part of the review, we will be asking airlines to provide information on their policies and practices.  We will be looking into how airlines decide where to seat passengers that have booked as part of a group and whether any airlines are pro-actively splitting up groups of passengers when, in fact, they could be sat together.  We will not hesitate to take any necessary enforcement action should it be required at the end of the review.”

https://consultations.caa.co.uk/policy-development/airline-seating-allocations

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All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum

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Richard Phillips, Hampshire

When a cabin crew member, it was always MY priority to ensure that families, particularly with young children, sat together. This was not to placate necessarily naughty children, but to ensure that in the event of an emergency situation, parents weren't so reliant on the cabin crew and children would probably take instruction from their parents. When travelling as a passenger, I would always insist on my family sitting together, at no extra cost! If the airline weren't to comply with my request at check-in I would still board the aircraft. If the cabin crew then couldn't help, I would off-load my family, hence delaying the aircraft due to our family bags in the hold having to be located and taken off. The situation never got to this stage, however.......! What I'm saying is, it should be all about safety and airlines should not get away with 'doing their best to sit families together'.

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