[Update] Frontier will charge up to $89 for social distancing on flights

Enlarge / A Frontier plane landing back in 2016, when sitting crammed next to other passengers was still deeply unpleasant but didn’t feel as potentially life-threatening.

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Update: Following public outcry and under pressure from members of Congress, Frontier late Wednesday rescinded its plan to charge a fee for “more room” seats. “We recognize the concerns raised that we are profiting from safety and this was never our intent,” CEO Barry Biffle said.

Original Story:

With schools and businesses closed, conferences and conventions canceled, and travel restrictions in effect, very few of us are flying anywhere at the moment. States and countries are already slowly starting to bring themselves back online, though, and eventually, travel with pick up again—at least to some degree.

But commercial airplanes tend to be essentially airborne sardine cans in which germ-filled passengers are packed horrifyingly close together, all breathing the same recirculated air. For those who do have to travel, or who are planning to in the rest of 2020, prudence seems advisable. Passengers should wear masks, and airlines can help keep spacing between them by reducing capacity and leaving narrow, overcrowded seats empty for the time being.

No two airlines are handling the uncertain future in quite the same way. Frontier Airlines, though, is going all in on the industry’s worst nickel-and-diming impulses and is happy to let you gain a few precious inches of space from your neighbor and their bodily fluids—for an additional fee.

Frontier touts the new charge as the “more room” pledge. “While we

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