Row 27 on my recent American Airlines flight, LAX-DCA. Photo by Barb DeLollis.

Row 27 on my recent American Airlines flight, LAX-DCA. Photo by Barb DeLollis.

During his merger-update presentation Wednesday at the Cowen Group Global Transportation Conference & Aerospace/Defense Forum, American Airlines Group CFO Dereck Kerr also spoke about American’s plan to add more seats in aircraft. The airline currently has fewer seats in some of its most popular planes compared to rivals Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, he said. Given recent headlines about passengers fighting over the reclining of seats, I thought you’d like to get an update, too. From Kerr’s talk:

Boeing 737-800 (252 aircraft): American will increase the number of seats in each of its Boeing 737-800, he said. Today, American has 150 seats on them, but by the end of 2015, it will install 10 additional seats in each plane. Delta and United have 160/166 seats in their aircraft, he told investors.

Boeing 777-200 (47 aircraft): American will increase the number of seats in its Boeing 777-200 aircraft, which currently have 247 seats. In the future, they will have 289 seats, “which will help with the profitability” of international service, Kerr said. “We have (fewer) seats than other competitors,” he said. Delta has 291 seats, while United as 269 seats, he said. Expect to see this completed through 2016.

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The airline’s doing what other major carriers have already done, Henry Harteveldt told me. “They’re reducing seat pitch,” he said.

“They’re packing as many seats as they possibly can into the airplane,” he said.

Is American Airlines is missing an opportunity to stand out from the pack? Stay tuned for his views on Monday. That’s when I’ll share the rest of Harteveldt’s comments with you right here on TravelUpdate.com!

Readers: What do you think about airlines packing more seats into planes?