WestJet Airlines has created a new class of premium seating called the “Plus product”. By paying a flat $45 fee, these privileged passengers are offered many amenities such as a second checked bag and priority boarding.  It also offers extra legroom in the first 3 rows of the plane. Unexpectedly, this new seating has only resulted into tension between the front-line workers and the passengers. The product was not well-received by either the guests or the employees since the customers were dissatisfied with the Plus seats or the employees found the Plus seats a nuisance since the amenities interfered with their tasks. (For instance, flight attendants experienced difficulty with moving the food trolley past the roomier seats in the exit aisles) The vice-president of sales of WestJet expressed that WestJet has “underestimated the impact that the complexity and magnitude of this change”.

Although the new class of seating seemed like a perfect idea for WestJet, it proved that not everything result in the way WestJet expected the Plus product will work out. Now the company knows the impact of a new product and how it will affect not only the passengers but also the employees.

Source: http://business.financialpost.com/2013/07/17/westjets-new-premium-class-creating-confusion-among-workers-customers/