DETROIT -- Spirit Airlines has unveiled a retrofitted cabin interior that the airline promises will offer greater comfort and legroom to passengers, even while maintaining the same tight configuration that helps the ultralow-cost carrier (ULCC) keep fares low.
Spirit vice president of inflight experience Lania Rittenhouse and vice president of technical operations Kirk Thornburg cut the ribbon Monday on the carrier's first of 90 aircraft that will feature its new interior. Photo Credit: TW photo by Robert Silk
"We are definitely a value play now," said Lania Rittenhouse, the carrier's vice president of inflight experience, shortly after a ribbon cutting ceremony aboard the Airbus A320neo aircraft in Spirit's hangar at Detroit airport Tuesday morning.
The aircraft, one of 90 that Spirit plans to introduce with the new interior over the next two years, flew for the first time last Friday night, going from Detroit to New Orleans. Fifty of those aircraft will be new deliveries taken by Spirit; the other 40 will be retrofits from the carrier's existing fleet.
Just like Spirit's current configuration, the new interiors are densely packed, with seat rows spaced just 28 inches apart, equal with ULCC competitor Frontier for the least among U.S. airlines.
But Spirit worked for two years with U.K.-based Acro Aircraft Seating to make the most of that space. The result is seats with a more curved seatback, enabling passengers to sit further back in the seat and therefore creating more legroom space. In addition, Acro relocated the seat-back pocket to the top of the seat, opening up additional space for the knees.
Photo Credit: TW photo by Robert Silk
In a marketing campaign rolled out in September, Spirit argued that the new seats offer two extra inches of what it calls "usable legroom" compared with the carrier's longstanding seat configuration. That assertion is more than just an empty boast. A Tuesday comparison of the new and old configurations by a Travel Weekly reporter confirmed that the new configuration does offer more leg space.
Another enhancement in the new seats is an 18-inch wide middle seat, which is one inch wider than the aisle and window seats. Spirit's current aircraft have 17 inches of width on seats on the aisle, window and in the middle.
Other changes include a thicker seat cushion and full-sized tray tables. Like Spirit's older seats, the new ones don't recline. But they are prepositioned with more seatback tilt than their predecessors.
Along with changes to coach seats, the new Spirit interiors offer enhanced seat cushions and redesigned headrests on the Big Front Seat, which occupy the first two rows of aircraft. The planes also have a more defined Spirit color pallet, including logoed bulkheads and beverage carts.