When Will Blocking Middle Seats End?
Delta Air Lines will block middle seats until March 30, 2021. Delta is the airline who has left the policy in place the longest—United and American have already begun doing so, Southwest said they will stop at the end of November.
Alaska Airlines extended its blocking of middle seats on mainline jets — Airbus 320s, A321neos, and Boeing 737s — through Jan. 6, 2021, The policy was previously due to end on Nov. 30. Alaska’s extension comes as competitor Southwest Airlines said it will remove its seating caps on Dec. 1. The move leaves just Alaska, Delta Air Lines and JetBlue Airways capping the number of passengers on any given flight in the U.S.
JetBlue will end seat blocking in January. Citing science that supports the safety of the aircraft cabin, JetBlue Airways will raise onboard capacity limits from 70% to 85% starting Dec. 2, then make all seats available for sale after Jan. 7.
