Less leg room. American Airlines, who received $360 Million in taxpayer dollars, is using some of the money to add seats to their aircraft. Leg room will be reduced by about 2 to 3 inches. These are the planes that American had previously reduced capacity on, as part of their "More Room in Coach" ad campaign. The Seattle PI notes that while the increased leg room was a big hit with business travelers, it failed to woo vacation travelers who typically choose an airline based on ticket price.

This is yet another nail in the coffin for big name airlines. As I've said on numerous occasions, air travel is becoming more like a comodity, and airlines are doing less to differentiate themselves. When my favorite airlines started taking away perks and increasing the restrictions on frequent flier loyalty programs, I switched from being a loyal customer to being a price sensative customer. From a business perspective, you would think they would try to move people in the other direction. In this case, American tried, and apparently, they failed.

Over the years, it was widely believed that business customers were the bread and butter for airlines. I guess after the dot-bomb, airlines are more interesting in wooing vacation travelers than regular business customers. This leads me to ask, what's a 6-foot 3-inch frequent flier to do? I guess I'll try Hooters Air.