Spirit Airlines Unveils New, Ergonomically-Designed Seats to Maximize Usable Legroom
September 09 2019 - 2:00PM
Spirit Airlines (NYSE: SAVE) is advancing its promise to invest in
the Guest experience by unveiling new, more comfortable seats that
provide additional usable legroom. Spirit’s new seats, created by
UK-based Acro Aircraft Seating, integrate state-of-the-art design
features, including thicker padding, ergonomically-designed lumbar
support, and additional pre-recline. Middle seats will also gain
another inch of width, and every seat will gain nearly an inch of
pre-recline compared to Spirit’s current seating configuration,
with exit rows adding even more.
Spirit’s new seats, padded with ultra-light weight
foam and made of a composite skeleton, will add comfort without
increasing weight, maintaining high fuel efficiency on Spirit’s Fit
Fleet™. According to ergonomics experts, these innovative
enhancements allow for a wider range of healthy postures and
movements, offering an additional two inches of usable legroom
compared to industry-standard flatback seats with the same pitch.
The new, softer seats include a full-size tray table and an
elevated literature pocket and are designed in a matte-black color
with border stitching in Spirit’s signature yellow. Installation of
the new seats will begin in November and continue through 2020 on
all new Spirit deliveries.
In addition, Spirit is adding comfort to its Big
Front Seats™, making the best value in the sky even better.
Spirit’s updated Big Front Seat™ will feature a new
ergonomically-improved headrest with plush memory foam, additional
memory foam in the seat cushion for comfort and thigh support, and
sleek Spirit-branded aesthetic with yellow and black stitching.
Guest feedback and survey results helped guide these design
enhancements with manufacturer HAECO Cabin Solutions.
“Last year I signed a pledge to look at every facet
of our Guest experience and determine where we could improve. This
investment in our seats and onboard experience is a direct result
of that commitment, and it also allows us to enhance our product
value while maintaining our industry-leading cost structure,” said
Ted Christie, Spirit Airlines’ President and Chief Executive
Officer. “We have listened to our Guests, and we are responding
with these new, more comfortable seats.”
Christie continued, “We also believe it is time for
our industry to rethink the concept of seat pitch, a metric many
industry experts and aviation media have called antiquated and
misleading, given the broad differences in seating measurements
that more directly affect passenger comfort. Our research shows
that many Guests not only misunderstand the concept of pitch, but
strongly believe that comfort derives from usable legroom. Our new
seats now offer more usable legroom with their innovative
design.”
Partnering with the Charted Institute of Ergonomics
and Human Factors (CIHEF), Spirit Airlines conducted in-depth
analysis on the ergonomics and comfort of the new seats. Both
beautiful and efficient, the seats were designed to curve gently
around a Guest’s back to create a comfortable posture and make
available more usable legroom. Spirit also conducted a research
study to understand perceptions around seat pitch and seat comfort.
The brand-agnostic study showed that most people, from a sampling
of more than 1,000 air travelers, did not know the true definition
of “seat pitch”, the space between a point on one seat and the same
point on the seat in front of it. In fact, only about 5 percent of
respondents were able to accurately describe seat pitch.
“Pitch is an outdated industry term for measuring
seat comfort, as it does not consider a range of important key
factors like seatback curvature, seat width, cushion thickness, and
usable space,” said Steve Barraclough, Chief Executive of the
Chartered Institute of Ergonomics & Human Factors. “The ‘Usable
Legroom’ metric is the distance from the center of the back of the
seat cushion to the outer edges of the seat in front. We believe
this metric provides a potential basis that all airlines could
calculate and could offer the passenger new, evidence-based
information about the potential comfort of the seat.”
The new seats were announced on stage at the APEX
(Airline Passenger Experience Association) EXPO. Spirit plans to
share its plans for a new cabin redesign this November, complete
with updated branding and a more modern look and feel for Guests to
enjoy.
“Spirit Airlines today unveiled a new generation of
seats designed to give greater recline, full-size tray tables, more
memory foam comfort, enhanced ergonomic comfort, and more knee
space to their guests,” said Dr. Joseph Leader, CEO of
APEX. “APEX applauds our airlines for taking genuine steps to
advance customer experience, but the best actions by our airlines
are when they genuinely give more within existing space as Spirit
has done today.”
To learn more about how Spirit is Investing in the
Guest and watch a video highlighting the new usable legroom seat
comfort measurement, please head to
www.investintheguest.com/#newseats.
Media Assets Library
including:
- Downloadable video illustrating the unlocked legroom on
Spirit’s new seats
- High-res images of the Big Front Seats™
and New Seats
- Ditch the Pitch and Usable Legroom
infographic
About Spirit Airlines: Spirit Airlines (NYSE:
SAVE) is committed to delivering the best value in the sky. We are
the leader in providing customizable travel options starting with
an unbundled fare. This allows every Guest to pay only for the
options they choose — like bags, seat assignments and refreshments
— something we call À La Smarte. We make it possible for our Guests
to venture further and discover more than ever before. Our Fit
Fleet® is one of the youngest and most fuel-efficient in the U.S.
We operate more than 600 daily flights to 76 destinations in the
U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean, and are dedicated to giving
back and improving the communities we serve. Come save with us at
spirit.com. At Spirit Airlines, we go. We go for
you.
Contact: |
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Spirit Media
Relations |
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954.364.0231 |
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media_relations@spirit.com |
Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/371c6f6e-5c22-42a1-9224-a231be90bdaf
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7aab4369-d2ba-4d4a-88c4-074934985f4a
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