American Airlines is cutting the leg room in economy, and it won’t the first to do so

TRAVELLING in ‘cattle class’ could be about to get a whole lot more cramped after this announcement from a major international airline.

IF FLYING ‘cattle class’ isn’t bad enough, it’s about to get even worse.

American Airlines’ new Boeing 737 Max jetliners will be cutting the leg room in economy in order to make way for more seats.

Pitch, or the distance from the back of one seat to the same spot on the one in front of it, will be reduced by up to five centimetres in the new planes.

On three rows of seats, leg room will shrink to 74cm from the current distance 79cm, a spokesman for the carrier announced.

The space between the remaining rows will drop to 76cm inches from 79cm.

This will allow the new Max jets to have 172 seats, according to CNN, compared to 160 on its existing 737-800s.

American Airlines is cutting the leg room in economy on its new Boeing 737 Max jetliners. Photo: AP/Seth Wenig

American Airlines said it expects the new planes will go into use later this year and will primarily be flown on routes in North America. It is believed bathroom will also be smaller.

And to rub salt into the wounds, passengers will still have to pay regular economy fares for the three rows losing five centimetres of leg room. CNN reports two of those three rows of 74cm pitch will be in the back of the plane and a third further forward.

These seats will not be part of its new basic economy fares, which sell for less because passengers don’t get access to overhead bins, a seat assignment or frequent flyer miles.

American isn’t the only big airline heading in this direction either. United Airlines is believed to be considering a similar move, according to a person briefed on its evaluations, who spoke to CNN. United declined to comment to the publication but it isn’t a great sign for the future of economy flying.

HOW DO AUSTRALIAN AIRLINES STACK UP?

An analysis by Skyscanner Australia shows flying economy on Qantas is the roomiest because seat pitch is a uniform 79cm across all the carrier’s planes.

Meanwhile, Virgin Australia and Tigerair Australia both have seat pitches of between 74cm to 79cm, and Jetstar has leg room varying from 74cm to 76cm.

But the airlines most popular with Australians heading abroad which have the most leg room are Air New Zealand or Delta Airlines, where some fleet have pitches up to a generous 89cm in economy class.