Airline won’t squeeze seats

American Airlines is backtracking from a plan that would have given it some of the tightest coach- class seats in the U. S. airline industry.

The world’s largest carrier will still trim legroom on its soon- toarrive Boeing 737 MAX jets. But it has dropped plans that would have made three coach- class rows even tighter than the rest and among the most cramped of all U. S. carriers. American says it decided to change course after “a lot of feedback from both customers and team members.”

“It is clear that today, airline customers feel increasingly frustrated by their experiences and less valued when they fly,” American said in a Tuesday letter to employees.

American initially said it would remove up two inches of legroom from new planes that are due to arrive late this year. The move would have reduced the “seat pitch” — a standard industry measure of the space between the same spot on two seats — from the current 31 inches to 30 inches throughout most of the economy cabin. Three rows of the plane would have had an even bigger reduction, with the space shrinking from 31 inches to 29 inches.

Such a reduction would have made the tightest seat comparable to those offered on no- frills “ultra low- cost carriers” such as Spirit and Frontier. While American has backed away from the most drastic cut, the company still will end up shrinking the seat pitch by about an inch in the economy cabin of the 737 MAX compared with comparable planes now in its fleet.

JEREMY DYWER- LINDGREN, SPECIAL FOR USA TODAY American Airlines has scrapped a plane to add smaller seats to 737s.