What happened
On Monday 4 May 2020, with air travel demand near zero and passengers worried about the coronavirus on planes, budget carrier Frontier Airlines announced a 'More Room' option. For a price starting at $39 per passenger per flight, it would keep the middle seat in a passenger's row empty. Other US airlines were blocking middle seats or capping capacity as a safety measure, not selling it.
House Transportation and Infrastructure chair Peter DeFazio said the move was 'capitalizing on fear'. At a Senate hearing on Wednesday, Senator Amy Klobuchar said it was not appropriate for passengers who could not afford the charge to be less safe. That day Frontier told lawmakers in a letter, seen by Reuters, that it was rescinding the seat price increase tied to More Room.
CEO Barry Biffle wrote that Frontier recognised concerns that it was 'profiting from safety' and said that was never its intent, as it simply wanted to offer an option for more space. He said the airline would make best efforts to ensure as much social distancing as possible. Frontier said its load factors had passed 50% that week and were rising.
Why it happened
The fee monetised a health fear at a time when other airlines blocked middle seats at no charge, so it looked opportunistic.
It created a two-tier safety outcome, which senators said was unfair to passengers who could not pay.
Load factors were already above 50% and rising, so natural distancing on its flights was shrinking, which made a paid empty seat look like selling a fix for a growing risk.
The lesson
Charging for safety during a health scare reads as profiteering, however you frame it. When rivals block middle seats for free, a paid version invites political backlash.
Aftermath
Frontier withdrew the policy on 6 May 2020, within about 48 hours of announcing it. The report does not say how many passengers had bought it or what it cost the airline. The company said it would try for as much social distancing as possible throughout the aircraft.
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