I’ve been curious to see how Midwest Airlines would implement its change in strategy announced earlier this year to offer both “Signature” and “Saver” seats on all of its flights. Primarily, I’ve been wondering how they are going to price the seats, and today that question as been answered for me:

Seating Choice Available September 16
Our MD-80 aircraft will soon offer customers a choice of seating. Along with Saver seats, a limited number of Signature seats will also be available. Customers who prefer to sit in a Signature seat can pay a $60 per segment fee at the time of Web check-in or at the airport kiosk, ticket counter or gate.

At $60 per segment, I think the strategy may actually work. I have been wondering if, by having both types of seats aboard all aircraft in the fleet, Midwest would no longer be differentiating itself from its larger competitors. After all, having “1st Class” and “Coach” is hardly a novel idea. Midwest’s Signature Service, however, was innovative and is a pleasure to fly on. When I flew on Midwest’s Saver Service to Phoenix a few years ago, I did lament the fact that they seats weren’t as comfortable as I had become used to on their B717 flights. A $60 premium for their Signature service seats, however, makes them very competitive against the 1st class options available on other airlines. Choosing the seats at check in also helps with the differentiation, although I suspect that many who would happily pay the extra $60 will be unhappy that they can’t reserve those prime seats at the time they make their reservation. My guess is that that option will be available shortly.

Given that the Signature seats are better than many 1st class seats I’ve seen on competing airlines, an extra $120 for a round trip will likely be attractive to many fliers, at least on the longer flights like MKE to PHX, and having an additional choice is almost always a good thing as far as consumers are concerned. The real test, of course, will be to see if this leads to an increase in profitability.