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Will customers see it as another irritating fee or the answer to an unmet need?
If you’re a frequent flyer, then I’m sure you’ve played the same quiet game that I often have.
You find your aisle or window seat, wrestle your carry-on into the overhead bin, and then try not to look too obvious as you glance toward the front of the cabin. The middle seat next to you is empty, and you anxiously hope that no one who’s boarding will sit there.
For a brief moment, the empty middle seat feels like possibility.
Sometimes you get lucky, but most of the time, someone arrives just before the cabin door closes, apologizes for climbing over your knees or asking you to move your laptop off their seat, and spends the next three hours negotiating ownership of the armrest.
That’s air travel. Or at least it was.
A novel seating option
United Airlines recently announced that it will begin offering a new option on its Airbus A321XLR aircraft that blocks off the middle seat with a fixed “leather-like” upholstered table, creating extra personal space for the two remaining passengers. It’s another example of airlines searching for new ways to generate premium revenue without redesigning the entire cabin.
United believes some of its Economy Plus passengers will gladly pay more for comfort, and when the new product rolls out later this year, the company will soon find out if that’s the case here. Personally, I know I would pay a bit more to guarantee some extra space—and comfort—between me and the other passenger in my row.
Fees, fees, and more fees
However, when I first read the story, my reaction was probably the same as yours: “They’re charging people for… an empty seat?” It seemed like just one more addition to airlines’ long à la carte menu of upgrades—from fees for checked or even carry-on bags, to fees for seats with extra legroom, to fees for priority boarding, onboard Wi-Fi, and much more.
Then I caught myself. Because the more I thought about it, the less it seemed like an airline story.
What entrepreneurs and business builders do
I’ve spent years watching entrepreneurs build companies, launch products, and chase growth, and one pattern shows up again and again. When business slows, your instinct is almost always the same—to add something, whether it’s another feature, another service, or another option. If you’re an entrepreneur, founder, or executive, you’re a builder, and adding feels productive while removing feels risky.
But customers don’t always experience value the way businesses create it. And that’s what made me look at United’s announcement differently.
The airline isn’t really selling an empty space. It’s selling relief. Relief from bumping elbows with a stranger, relief from feeling squeezed for several hours, relief from one of the small irritations that you may have accepted for so long that you barely notice it anymore.
The outcome will be the real test
Whether United’s passengers embrace the idea remains to be seen. Some will undoubtedly argue that airlines are monetizing something that used to happen by chance. But others will see it as one more way to customize the travel experience.
I know one thing for certain: If United passengers like this addition and are willing to pay for it, other airlines—such as American, Southwest, and Delta—will surely embrace it for themselves. However, while other airlines wait and see, United is looking for other ways to make its passengers happier. In the words of United chief commercial officer Andrew Nocella, “We’re investing nose-to-tail across our fleet and giving customers choice and value in every cabin.”
The companies that create the most loyal customers aren’t always the ones that add the most features. They’re often the ones that identify a frustration everyone else has accepted as inevitable—and quietly make it disappear.
That’s a different way of thinking about innovation, and it may be the one your customers value most.
This post originally appeared at inc.com.
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