A new tool developed by Montreal-based ancillary revenue
platform Plusgrade will help airlines commoditize blocked seats.
Seven carriers -- among them Etihad, Royal Jordanian,
Malaysia Airlines, Philippine Airlines and Oman Air -- are expected to go live
with the Dynamic Seat Blocker in the next 30 days, Plusgrade said.
The tool enables passengers to pay extra to have the seat
next to them blocked. It uses predictive analytics to help airlines price those
blocked seats.
Commoditizing blocked seats during the Covid-19 pandemic has
proven controversial. In May, Frontier announced plans to sell blocked middle
seats to ticket holders of neighboring seats for $39 but abandoned the idea
just days later amid backlash and condemnation from Democrats in Congress.
Plusgrade CEO Ken Harris touted the Dynamic Seat Blocker as a
product that puts travelers in control of their experience while giving
airlines a revenue opportunity.
Airlines deploying the solution agreed.
“Dynamic Seat Blocker is the exact innovation we are looking
for ensure our guests fly confidently,” said Oman Air senior vice president of
revenue optimization and pricing Umesh Chhiber.
Etihad ancillary revenue strategy manager Abigael Wanjiru
said that the carrier expects the tool to be one of its biggest generators of ancillary
revenue.