Sorry if I appear to be 'stooping low' with this, but I wonder if the managers, accountants and, (dare I say), 'union reps', who have obviously given their endorsement to these cost-saving procedures have forgotten that:-
The 2 most tragic mid-air collisions in European airspace in the last 40 years were, in part, attributable to persons not sitting in seats that should have been occupied.
Also, the loss of Comair 1591, at Lexington, might have been prevented had eyeballs been looking though the VCR windows.
No offence intended to anyone. Stay safe and keep a sharp lookout.