Spirit Airlines, long known for its low prices and no-frills airfare, is suddenly leaning into passenger comfort.
The airline announced Tuesday that it will begin offering two premium options. They include, perhaps most surprisingly, seating with extra legroom.
The new seats will be available on May 15 for flights taking off July 9 and later, and will roll out across the majority of Spirit’s fleet sometime that month, the company said in a press release. They’ll offer 32 inches of space between seat backs, compared with the usual 28 inches. A ticket will include a carry-on bag, no change or cancel fees, Priority Boarding, reserved overhead bin space, a snack, and a non-alcoholic beverage.
“Spirit’s new premium options offer travelers exceptional value, and we’re creating even more opportunities for Guests to experience them with our new extra-legroom seating option,” Spirit Airlines senior vice president and chief commercial officer Rana Ghosh said in a press release.
The new seats will be installed in seven rows near the front of Spirit’s aircraft for a total of more than 40 seats. The company expects the new seats to be available across its entire fleet sometime in 2026.
Spirit also announced a revamped Free Spirit loyalty program that includes complimentary upgrades and a two-free-checked-bags policy for cardholders. Spirit is well-known — infamous, even — for offering cheap fares and charging a la carte for everything from checked bags to being able to choose your seat.
Ghosh said in the release that Spirit is “adding more value and perks for our loyalty members at a time when others are taking away benefits, giving our most loyal guests even more reasons to choose Spirit.”
Spirit entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy and was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange in November. The company laid off about 200 employees in January in an effort to save costs. It eventually emerged from bankruptcy in March.
Frontier and JetBlue (JBLU+3.23%) have both tried but failed to merge with the budget airline in recent years.
The post Spirit Airlines suddenly wants to be nicer appeared first on Quartz.
