"Revenue is expected to grow as customers become more familiar with the product," the company said.

Last month, Northwest started putting 5% of its coach seats on most of its domestic flights up for sale, or about 10 seats out of 200 in the coach cabin of a 757-300.

Through the program, called Coach Choice, when a passenger checks in 24 hours before departing, the traveler is given the option to pay an extra $15 for an assigned seat on an aisle toward the front of the coach cabin or in an exit row.

Exit-row seats are coveted and on a Northwest plane can offer as much as 10 inches of extra legroom compared with regular coach seats.

Despite the success, Northwest's program has drawn frustration from some passengers who don't want to pay the fee.

Bruce Annett, who is 6-foot-5, said he grudgingly would pay $15 for more legroom. In a regular coach seat, "my knees are right up against the seat in front of me," said Annett, 53 of Waterford.

"For me, it isn't just a matter of comfort, it's a necessity," he said.

Northwest carries six of every 10 passengers who start their trips at Detroit Metro Airport. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year.

Extra charges are becoming a more frequent part of the traveling experience, as financially ailing major carriers search for ways to offset high fuel costs at a time when they're trying to compete with low-cost carriers.

United Airlines Inc., which emerged from bankruptcy in February, offers a similar program that charges travelers who aren't United frequent fliers $24 to $99 to upgrade to one of the airline's Economy Plus seats at the front of the coach cabin, or pay an annual fee of $299 to upgrade. That program is slated to bring in $50 million a year.


Source: USA Today