Air travel has long required passengers to pack lightly. Increasingly, it seems to require folding passengers as well.
A Dec. 27 TikTok showing a passenger struggling to fit his legs into a cramped airplane seat has struck a nerve online. Filmed aboard a four-hour WestJet flight by Alberta resident Amanda Schmidt, the video shows her 6’3” father wedged into an economy row with barely enough room for his legs.
The clip has since surpassed one million views and drawn sharp criticism on social media. “There needs to be some federal regulations on how much room should be allowed! I can’t see how this is safe,” one commenter wrote.
The video follows the airline’s decision to introduce 28-inch seat pitch in parts of its economy cabin, among the smallest seat configurations offered by a major Canadian carrier.
WestJet announced last fall that it would reconfigure 43 Boeing 737 aircraft to add an extra row of seats and expand fare tiers. As of January, 21 planes have been modified. Roughly half of the economy rows now offer 28 inches of pitch, down from the airline’s previous minimum of 29 to 30 inches, and the seats are fixed in a non-reclining position.
The change moves WestJet closer to the ultra-low-cost carrier model, which keeps base fares down by increasing seat density and charging extra for legroom and luggage. While this approach is standard for budget airlines such as Flair, WestJet has long positioned itself as a full-service Canadian carrier rather than a discount option.
Despite the backlash, the new seats comply with existing regulations. Canadian aviation rules don’t establish a minimum standard for seat pitch, and airlines aren’t required to disclose legroom at the time of booking. Passenger space is generally treated as a service issue rather than a safety one, even as tighter cabin layouts raise concerns about mobility and potential health impacts during longer flights.
“It’s inhumane, basically, to make people travel like this—and it’s also a health and safety concern,” Schmidt said in an interview with CBC News. “When you buy a seat for a human, you should be able to expect it to fit a human safely.”
Passenger experience and accessibility fall under the Canadian Transportation Agency, but the agency states it can’t intervene in general customer service complaints. Accessibility protections apply only when a passenger has a recognized disability, leaving limited recourse for travellers who find increasingly tight seating physically restrictive.
Some passengers have attempted to navigate the issue individually. Jeremy Dias said he and his partner, who is 6’5,” applied for additional legroom based on height. The airline required them to complete a 12-page form requesting detailed personal information and medical sign-off—a process their physician described as unreasonable.
In an email to CTV News, WestJet spokesperson Julia Kaiser said its reconfigured cabins meet all safety and airworthiness standards and were approved by Transport Canada. The airline argues that offering variable seat pitch allows it to keep fares affordable while giving passengers the option to pay more for additional space.
Public reaction suggests the concern is about more than just ticket prices. As airlines continue to increase cabin density, reduced legroom can limit movement on longer flights and may complicate emergency evacuations, while clear standards on how much—or how little—space airlines must provide are not addressed.
The controversy also reflects increased dissatisfaction with the perceived decline in air travel quality. As airlines cut costs while recovering from pandemic-era losses, passengers increasingly report frustration with added fees for seat selection, priority boarding, and even basic onboard amenities, like water.
Public pressure has already prompted some response. WestJet has paused plans to expand non-reclining seats across a larger portion of its fleet following criticism from passengers and employees. Whether the backlash leads to broader regulatory change remains uncertain, but it has exposed a growing gap between how air travel is regulated and how it’s experienced.
Tags
consumer issues, regulation, Travel
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