Frontier Airlines to Rescind Controversial Empty Middle Seat Fee

Frontier Airlines is doing away with its controversial "More Room" seat assignment allowing passengers to guarantee an empty middle seat by paying a fee in the wake of intense backlash from travelers, Congress and others.

The option, which was announced Monday, started from $39 per passenger, per flight and was to be offered on flights departing May 8 through August 31, 2020.

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Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., chairman of the House Transportation Committee, called it "outrageous" and accused the carrier of "capitalizing on fear and passengers' well-founded concerns for their health and safety" during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Frontier CEO Barry Biffle said the airline will rescind the extra fee and block the seats from being sold, according to The Associated Press.

"We recognize the concerns raised that we are profiting from safety and this was never our intent," Biffle wrote in a letter to Reps. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn.; Jesus Garcia, D-Ill. and Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass. on Wednesday. "We simply wanted to provide our customers with an option for more space."

Biffle had originally said the More Room option was to provide customers with "extra peace of mind or simply additional comfort."

"We are offering the option, and it is guaranteed. We don’t believe you need it—if everybody is wearing a facial covering—to be safe," he told the AP earlier this week.

The airline previously announced that it will require all passengers to wear a face-covering over their nose and mouth at ticket counters, gate areas and during their flight starting Friday, May 8.

In addition to requiring passengers to wear masks, airlines have been blocking middle seats in an effort to adhere to social distancing guidelines. However, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) recently estimated that eliminating middle seats for a substantial period of time could cause airfares to rise by 43 to 54 percent.

Airlines are already reeling amid a more than 90 percent decline in U.S. air travel. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screened 140,409 passengers nationwide on Wednesday compared to 2,270,662 on the same day last year.