Spirit Airlines unveils bigger seats, upgraded onboard experience

And honestly, we're kind of impressed.
a man and a woman pull a black tarp off to unveil Spirit Airlines' new Big Front Seats at an event


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Spirit Airlines just made some serious upgrades to its in-flight experience. Now, before you roll your eyes, we’ll tell you now that it actually seems like they’ve heard your cries about feeling like you’re sitting on thin plywood for hours on end.

Spirit unveiled its new Vector Light seats in Economy and Vector Premium seats for its signature ‘Big Front Seat’ premium product. The upgraded seats were introduced at the APEX Expo in Long Beach, California last week and will be added to its new aircraft in January 2023.

Spirit’s new economy seats

In economy, where most of us flying Spirit will end up, the ultra-low-cost carrier has introduced a handful of improvements, both big and small.

  • Economy seats will gain an extra one-half inch of width (17.5″ inches for aisle and window seats, 18.5″ for middle seats).
  • A new curved seatback design unlocks more knee room and, according to Spirit, adds about 2 more extra inches of space compared to standard flat seatback designs.
  •  New headrests and additional cushioning on seats.

 

spirit airlines' economy seat prototypes at an event
Spirit's new economy seats are wide and feature more cushion, better headrests
up close detail shot of new spirit airlines headrests
Detail of Spirit's new headrests and stitching
Detail shot of new spirit airlines tray tables
Spirit's new larger tray tables

Premium upgrades: Spirt’s Big Front Seat

Spirit’s Big Front Seat, already one of the best values in travel, is getting some upgrades of its own.

  • Wider seatbacks
  • Nearly an inch more pre-recline
  • Extra cushion
  • Easier to access tray tables

 

spirit airlines' big front seat prototypes at an event
Spirit's new Big Front Seat gets more room, more cushion
spirit airlines' big front seat prototypes at an event
up close detail shot of new spirit airlines big front seat

Spirit’s new upgrades

While it’s often easy to make Spirit the butt of the joke, it’s clear that the airline is taking steps to improve its product without drastically raising prices. Personally, we’re excited to try these improvements for ourselves in 2023.

Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone. This post contains references to products from one or more of our partners and we may receive compensation when you click on links to those products.

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