Making Air Travel Easier: ‘Giant Seats’ on Allegiant

PHOTO: The new ‘Giant Seats’ on Allegiant live up to their name. (courtesy Allegiant Airlines)

Editor's Note: Today begins a weekly series looking at what airlines are doing to make the travel experience a little easier for their passengers.

Allegiant Airlines is trying to make air travel easier with the introduction of what it calls “Giant Seats,” because, well, you can’t spell Allegiant without ‘giant’, right?

For anybody who’s ever felt squeezed into an airline seat like the 4 Train on the New York City subway, Allegiant has reconfigured some of its Boeing 757 fleet that are used for flights of five hours or more to add the roomy seats. The change in the 757 cabin will reduce the number of seats from 223 to 215; the rows which have the new ‘Giant Seats’ will be four seats across instead of six.

Allegiant uses its 757 fleet to fly from nine western cities to and from Hawaii and on select domestic routes to and from Las Vegas. Giant Seats will cost roughly $50 to $90 more for passengers who request them when making reservations. Allegiant says they are more spacious, have a wider seat, comfortable headrests and more leg room.

"By adding these new Giant Seats, Allegiant passengers will enjoy the feeling and comfort of a premium seat, while flying to their destination at an affordable cost," Jude Bricker, Allegiant Travel Company, Senior Vice President of Planning, said in a statement. "We think the Giant Seats will be a welcome option for travelers, especially on our long-haul flights to Hawaii."

Located in the first row and the mid-cabin emergency exit row of the aircraft, Allegiant installed the first of these new seats as part of compliance with changes to FAA crew rest rules, which require minimum seat requirements for augmented crews resting in the passenger cabin. The new Giant Seats are part of an overall reconfiguration of the Allegiant 757 cabins, which includes creating a new seating option called "Legroom+", which provide passengers with up to 34 inches between seat rows.

Giant Seats, Legroom+ … what’s next, The Big Salad for dinner on the flight?