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I read:

With most airlines, customers can buy an extra seat which will generally mean an empty middle seat, by paying whatever is the current fare. Almost nobody does this, and airlines don’t make it easy.

Why don’t airlines make it easy to buy an extra seat?

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    A guess: if that seat is sold to an actual separate passenger, even at the same fare, the airline has an opportunity to collect more money in baggage fees, food and drink, priority boarding, etc, etc.
    – Nate Eldredge
    Commented May 26 at 19:03
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    They would also probably like to encourage someone who wants extra space to instead upgrade to a premium class.
    – Nate Eldredge
    Commented May 26 at 19:06
  • @NateEldredge Thanks, good points.
    – Franck Dernoncourt
    Commented May 26 at 19:06
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    Probably also because like most businesses, they apply to 80/20 rule, and won’t spend resources on facilitating something which would probably be used by only a tiny number of passengers, and prefer to concentrate on the needs of the vast majority, especially when they already have another option: upgrade to premium/business/first (which will often be a much better solution, as it usually gives you more legroom in addition to more width). Only single class airlines can have any use for that feature, and it’s usually easy: book another seat!
    – jcaron
    Commented May 26 at 22:15
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    People post answers, not comments.
    – Willeke ♦
    Commented May 27 at 4:47

2 Answers 2

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Here is an overview of how the procedure looks like for most US carriers: https://thepointsguy.com/guide/buy-second-airplane-seat/

and airlines don’t make it easy.

Not strictly true. On some airlines its straight forward, on others it isn't. The main use cases that the airlines list are here are passenger of size, disabilities, large musical instruments and occasionally "More personal space". It appears the different airlines feel differently about the relevance of these use cases which reflects how much effort they put in to supporting them.

Business wise it has pros and cons: On the pro side: a seat sold is better than a seat not sold, an empty seat doesn't earn miles, and there is no weight or associate or service needs associated with it so it's certainly cheaper to operate than a full seat (at the same fare). The jack pot would be to sell the same empty seat to two adjacent passengers (but in this case you have to manage who "owns" that seat and what you can do with it).

On the down side: they miss out on ancillary revenue and junk fees. Many airlines make the economy experience extra miserable to steer customers towards upgrading (which typically has better margins). For example in the so-called "Euro Business" (https://thepointsguy.com/2015/08/europe-business-class/) the main value is an open middle seat while the cost is often 3+ times that of an economy seat.

People flying together may start to team up and buy a shared open middle seat. The airline may view this as "I could have sold 2 premium seats but only got revenue for 3 eco seats". Fun fact: many couples book aisle and window seats hoping for the middle to stay empty (and just trade it if doesn't). Air New Zealand now specifically disallows this (workaround being to have separate bookings for each passenger)

Why don’t airlines make it easy to buy an extra seat?

Guessing the motivation of airline is always speculative. There is a lot of variation in the actual difficulty so most likely there is no strong reason to do it one way or the other. Most likely reasons are either "not enough of a use case to but effort into" or "our inscrutable revenue optimization system has determined that we'll make 7.3 micropennys/pax more if we do it the current way".

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  • "book aisle and window seats hoping for the middle to stay empty". No no no, don't look at me, I've never ever ever done that ;-> Note that it works better if you do that in a row a little further back, as middle seats tends to fill up from the front to the back.
    – jcaron
    Commented May 27 at 12:02
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It says that it is not possible to book an extra seat in the Premium Economy and Business cabins https://wwws.airfrance.de/en/information/passagers/forte-corpulence, in Economy it's ok. But it can changes according to different companies

Book two seats Please contact our Saphir service so that they can assess your situation, check if a seat belt extension is necessary, and complete your booking with you.

If you are traveling in the Economy cabin on one of our long-haul flights, and the width of the seat is not sufficient for you, Saphir will offer you a second seat next to yours. This second seat will provide you with greater comfort, while ensuring your safety with a seat belt extension.

...

Please note: in the Premium Economy and Business cabins, it is not possible to book an extra seat with a seat belt extension, due to the seat configuration and static armrests.

In the Economy cabin: passengers cannot book two seats side by side and for the same person using our online booking system.

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  • Hey user23489300, welcome to travel stackexchange! I think your answer got downvoted because you just posted an URL. URLs can "die". Taking part of the page you want to point to and adding it to your post improves it alot! You can/must offcourse add the URL as reference.
    – Joren Vandamme
    Commented May 27 at 12:50
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    Did you edit in an url to a website you are affiliated with?
    – Joren Vandamme
    Commented May 29 at 10:40

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