You are sitting in the window seat in, say, row 12 of an airliner, waiting as the rest of the passengers pile in, dragging most of their belongings as they try to avoid baggage fees. You are hoping, praying, that the empty middle seat next to you stays that way, rather than being taken up by a passenger who’s been doing laps around the Golden Corral buffet instead of a running track. What are the odds? With airlines today filling close to 85% of available seats, the answer is: not good. But Delta will let you beat the odds, for a price. The airline has added a feature that lets you pay extra to give you a spot next to an unsold middle seat. I’d pay it in a heartbeat, to be honest. Delta’s move to get money for nothing (and your drinks are definitely not free) addresses an old problem that used to dog airlines. Every time an airliner takes off with unoccupied seats the airline is saying bye-bye to potential revenue. You can’t make the plane shorter, or take the seat out to lower costs. In economics, it has been known as an “empty core” problem and raises the question: what’s the smartest way to fill in the empty part? The airlines used to solve the empty core problem by discounting fares to lure more passengers—behavior that led to fare wars, ruinous losses and bankruptcy. (MORE: Netflix Is Coming After Your Cable Box) In today’s rationalized airline industry, the surviving carriers have removed entire planes and flights from the system so that there are 13 million fewer seats available this year—which leads to more crowded flights. The up-charge for sitting next to an empty seat is just another example of how the airlines have learned how to maximize the value of a plane’s real estate. They have moved away from selling everyone a seat for a basic fare to selling each passenger a customized trip. First you buy admission—a.k.a. a seat—then you keep paying up until you’ve reached the … Continue reading 6 Outrageous Fees the Airlines Haven’t Thought of (Yet)