Twitter/X

Five US airlines made $12.4 billion in six years by selling paid seat selection.

2026-08-08 · 04:09 UTC ·@aakashgupta ·1 min read

Brief

A @aakashgupta post alleges five US carriers extracted $12.4 billion over six years by selling seat selection, largely driven by passenger fear of group separation: a UK regulator survey of 4,000 found 60% paid for that reason, with 18% of unpaid groups split (Ryanair 35%). The regulator is reviewing seating algorithms while schedule changes and rebooking systems erase reserved seats, enabling repeated sales; a 2024 FAA law banning family seating fees for kids ≤13 has a rule drafted Aug 2024 that was still unfinalized as of Aug 8, 2026.

Why it matters

Five US airlines made $12.4 billion in six years by selling paid seat selection.

Key details

  • A UK regulator survey of 4,000 passengers found 60% bought seat selection because they feared group separation; 18% of groups who didn't pay were split overall and Ryanair split 35%; the regulator opened a formal review into seating algorithms and airlines denied deliberate splitting.
  • Schedule changes, aircraft swaps and rebooking software can erase seat maps (systems often store only three seat numbers), allowing airlines to resell adjacency; the 2024 FAA law banned family seating fees for children 13 and under and a rule drafted in August 2024 remained unfinalized as of this post (Aug 8, 2026).
Source evidence

Five US airlines made $12.4 billion in six years selling something that used to come free with a ticket. Choosing where you sit.

A UK regulator once surveyed 4,000 passengers to figure out why people pay. The answer was fear. Six in ten who bought seat selection did it because they were scared the airline would split their group.

The fear is well founded. In that survey, 18% of groups who didn't pay got separated. On Ryanair it was 35%. The regulator opened a formal review into whether seating algorithms were proactively splitting groups that could have sat together. Airlines denied it. The incentive stayed.

Because look at the loop. Every family the algorithm scatters this year is a paying customer next year.

And paying doesn't even close the loop. Schedule changes and aircraft swaps wipe seat maps, and rebooking software reassigns each passenger as a solo traveler. You bought adjacency. The system only stored three seat numbers. Then the seat numbers stopped existing.

Congress noticed. The 2024 FAA law ordered a ban on family seating fees for kids 13 and under. The rule was drafted in August 2024. It still hasn't been finalized.

Until it is, the product works as designed. The airline sells you certainty, deletes it in a schedule change, then sells it to you again.

せん (@1000_2025)

子どもと3人で帰省するのに飛行機真ん中の3列横並びで取ったのに、変更メール来て飛び飛びにされたんだけど😭何のための座席指定なのか😭問い合わせしたけど何とかなったりするのこれ😭

— https://nitter.net/1000_2025/status/2085597497284804734#m