First Olives Now This

[Kip Powick]

Flying is about to get a bit harder. Literally

American tosses pillows off most domestic flights

BYOP: With Delta and American's changes, you might want to bring your own pillow on your next flight.

Airline pillows are soon coming off most of American Airlines' domestic flights to cut costs.

Estimated savings: $375,000 a year.

The world's largest airline, American said Tuesday that pillows will be removed from first-class and coach cabins on all domestic flights except transcontinental trips and flights to Hawaii starting Feb. 15. Pillows will disappear from all Boeing 737s and 757s and Airbus A300s, spokesman Tim Wagner says.

International flights will not be affected.

American, which averted a bankruptcy-reorganization filing in 2003, lost $761 million last year. The new pillow policy was first reported by the Dallas Morning News.

American pulled pillows from its MD-80 fleet in November to save $300,000 a year, then decided to widen the action. It costs money to replace pillows when they get soiled.

"We had some resistance from customers initially, but complaints dropped off," Wagner says.

Blankets will remain on all flights to keep passengers warm when cabins get cold. They can serve as pillows if necessary, he said.

American is hoping most passengers won't care that pillows are gone.

"I have never used pillows on American or any other carrier," says James Espy, president of a Christopher, Ill.-based company that makes Christmas decorations. "Have you looked at these specimens? How often are they cleaned?"

But not all passengers will bid farewell to pillows lightly.Dallas-based flier Kathy Anthon has back trouble and already misses pillows on her American MD80 flights.

"I hate to have to bring one with me, but a rolled-up blanket just doesn't work as well," says Anthon, who works for Iwatsu, the phone system maker.

Business flier Tom Taylor of Lansing, Mich., uses pillows to add cushion to rock-hard airplane seats."Two of them on the seat makes it a bit more comfortable," Taylor says.

Washington-based frequent flier David Blanchard says he'll never substitute a blanket for a pillow because airplane blankets collect germs, too. "I can't tell you how many times I've seen people wrap their feet in them," he says.

American isn't the only big airline making pillows scarce.

Starting last week, Delta Air Lines moved pillows to the back of all planes on flights from its Atlanta home base to speed up boarding and improve on-time performance. Pillows take up valuable space in overhead compartments, where carry-on bags need to go, Delta says. Delta passengers will have to ask a flight attendant for a pillow.

[ccairspace]

I don't think WS has ever had pillows, even on the red-eyes. I also am not a fan of rolling up a blanket for a pillow. Yech!

ccairspace

[boestar]

OH GREAT....Guy puts two pillows on the seat and SITS on them....Maybe its just me but I would NOT want to have one of those next to my head after that.

Thanks but no....Not missing pillows.....especially now.

B

[Kip Powick]

And in Canada.........

((excerpt for G and M))

"We have pillows on all our flights and there are no current plans for change," said Air Canada spokeswoman Isabelle Arthur.

"There is no intention on our part to get rid of them," said Wayne Morrison, spokesman for Halifax-based discount carrier CanJet Airlines. "Every small thing that you can do for a customer, any amenity you can add, I'm sure is appreciated by the customer."

At no-frills upstarts WestJet Airlines Ltd. of Calgary and Jetsgo Corp. of Montreal, a no-pillow policy was in place from the get-go.

"It was really a cost-saving measure from the beginning," said Jetsgo spokesman Brad Cicero. The airline doesn't provide blankets either.