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“Seat Crime”: Viral Video Shows Passenger Struggling With Airline’s New Seats
A claustrophobia-inducing clip from a WestJet passenger has gone viral after it showcased the extremely congested seating arrangement on one of the airline’s planes.
On December 27, 2025, TikToker Amanda Schmidt (@amanda_rae.13) shared a video of her parents seated in the economy class of a WestJet flight. “The seats should at least fit normal-sized humans,” she captioned the video, which has garnered more than 1 million views on the social media platform.
Highlights
- A TikTok video showing WestJet’s new camped economy seats went viral as a passenger struggled for legroom.
- Netizens blasted the airline’s cost-cutting move, raising safety concerns and vowing to avoid WestJet flights.
- WestJet defended its new layout as industry-standard, saying tighter seating helps keep fares affordable.
As a result, WestJet faced severe backlash from netizens over its sardine-can-like seating plans, with several netizens criticizing the airline’s cost-cutting maneuver.
RELATED:
A WestJet passenger shared a video of the confined seats in new planes
Image credits: calgaryplanes
Amanda Schmidt and her parents were on a four-hour flight from Edmonton to Toronto. However, the simple journey became unpleasant, especially for the parents, who did not quite fit into their seats.
Image credits: Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images
In the video, Amanda’s father can be seen struggling to adjust his legs in the tight space ahead of his seat, prompting her to ask, “Can you straighten out your legs there?”
“Impossible,” he replied.
“You have to pay for the other leg,” Amanda joked.
Image credits: Longjumping-Box5691
The plane was reportedly among WestJet’s newly configured crafts featuring an economy class cabin with seat pitch (the distance between two seats) ranging between 30 to 28 inches.
Image credits: Ageless_Apex
Image credits: iRobMab
Netizens were appalled by the limited legroom offered by the airline, resulting in severe backlash on social media. Several users resolved to never fly with the company, while others felt the limited legroom raised safety concerns.
Image credits: Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images
“So don’t fly WestJet. Got it,” one user commented.
Another user wrote, “WestJet changed their seats, and this is how much leg room basic fares get.”
“Is this even safe in case of (an) emergency?” a third person said.
WestJet defended its newly reconfigured aircraft with limited legroom
Image credits: Longjumping-Box5691
Despite the initial trouble, Amanda clarified that she had no issues with the airline’s staff, who helped her father by shifting him to an empty seat where he was able to fit.
Image credits: alex_crypto98
“I basically just said that this is outrageous. When you buy a seat for a human, you should be able to expect that it can fit a human safely,” she told the Toronto Star.
Image credits: mafeertdrol
Image credits: Longjumping-Box5691
WestJet defended its decision to scale back on seating space with Julia Kaiser, a spokesperson for the airline, telling the publication that the newly reconfigured aircraft previously had an all-economy cabin layout.
WestJet changed their seats and this is how much leg room basic fares get. You have to pay for a reclining seat now. pic.twitter.com/6aIRm5KBl1
— non aesthetic things (@PicturesFoIder) January 5, 2026
She revealed that by reducing the seat pitch, they could accommodate an extra row, allowing the airline to offer its passengers affordable rates.
“These pitches are in line with what you’ll find across North American airlines,” Kaiser added.
Image credits: CBCTheNational
WestJet had first announced its decision to add “fixed recline” seats in September 2025, by overhauling the 43 planes of Boeing 737-8 MAX and 737-800 models.
Airlines face continued backlash over non-reclining seats
However, the decision was met with backlash, with speculation that it would force passengers to pay extra money for reclining seats. Gabor Lukacs, president of Canadian Air Passenger Rights, criticized the decision and expressed concern over its impact on tall travelers.
Image credits: suckamc
“WestJet may be trying to force these passengers to buy higher (cost) seats, and that is inappropriate,” he told the Toronto Star.
WestJet later changed its plans by reducing the number of planes featuring the new layout to 22, with 21 already sporting slimmer seats.
Image credits: Philipp Danne/unsplash (not the actual photo)
Last month, AirCanda was slammed online after a passenger was assigned a non-reclining seat despite paying full price. The airline also ranked 4th in a list of most legroom complaints based on researchers’ analysis of TripAdvisor reviews.
In July 2025, Southwest Airlines also faced backlash following its announcement of a “pick your seat” policy that would allegedly require passengers to pay higher fares for more legroom.
“Not even an option.” Netizens slammed WestJet for its new non-reclining seats
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What do you think ?
Binky Melnik 2 months ago
But you know people will still fly with them and then complain harshly and well hafta listen to it everywhere we turn. (I’m only 5’3” and that’s waaay too painful for me; my knees can’t sit like that. It hurts just looking at the photos!)
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Shark Lady 2 months ago
I can't see how you would be able to get in the brace position or even evacuate in a timely way. I suppose the chance of a crash landing is so small, that the amount of revenue generated would be more than the compensation they would have to pay out.
Binky Melnik 2 months ago
But you know people will still fly with them and then complain harshly and well hafta listen to it everywhere we turn. (I’m only 5’3” and that’s waaay too painful for me; my knees can’t sit like that. It hurts just looking at the photos!)
Load More Replies... Shark Lady 2 months ago
I can't see how you would be able to get in the brace position or even evacuate in a timely way. I suppose the chance of a crash landing is so small, that the amount of revenue generated would be more than the compensation they would have to pay out.
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