REGINA — A recent WestJet flight for Lindsay Noble and her husband posed safety concerns over legroom.
On Wednesday, the couple were travelling from Cancun back to Regina, unaware their plane had been one of dozens of aircraft redesigned by WestJet to add more seating.
“We were pretty surprised to find out it was the new design. So, I said, ‘I guess this is a great opportunity to find out what it really is like,” said Noble.
Once they sat down, Noble noticed her husband’s knees were jammed into the metal part of the armrest in the seat in front.
“I told him that it is not safe for you. If we hit turbulence, you could crack a knee, you could damage yourself.”
Noble also expressed concern about her husband managing to get into a brace position if something had happened during the flight.
“I can't fathom what would have happened for not just my husband, but anyone else who might have been in this unsafe position, for them not to able to move.”
Noble notified a flight attendant, who had been helpful with the situation.
Since the flight wasn’t full, Noble’s husband managed to find another seat with more room.
However, the experience left Noble upset with WestJet, and she will plan to fly with other airlines until the issue is resolved.
“I hope that they go back and they take these seats out and they put them back.”
Back in September, WestJet announced it’d reconfigure 43 Boeing 737 jets for new seating.
The process had been in accordance with Transport Canada standards.
“I really think that [Transport ] Canada needs to re-evaluate what is safe for these people. If they're saying this is safe, they need to re-evaluate their test subjects," said Noble.
SaskToday reached out to WestJet for comments, but haven't received a response by the publication time.
