They are sitting up and taking notice that, seats on the airline's two new Airbus 320 aircraft don't recline, Passengers on U. S. discount carrier Spirit said.

Florida-to-New York passenger Eve Green told the South Florida Sun Sentinel, "I hate sitting upright. It felt cheap and uncomfortable."

Bryan Bordeaux, who recently flew on Spirit with his wife and the couple's two children, said, "What happened to customer service? Between the bag and the seats, I don't know, they are kind of just piling things up here."

It would begin charging up to $45 for carry-on bags that needed to be stowed in overhead compartments, provoking a new round of debate on how far the industry will go to squeeze money out of passengers for services that used to be provided free, the airline had said a week ago.

The new seats were lighter, therefor assisting fuel efficiency, and cheaper to maintain, helping keep fares low, Airline spokeswoman, Misty Pinson, said.

Founder of SeatGuru. com Matt Daimler keeps a database on airline seating and said the 28-inch seat pitch on the new Spirit planes, referring to the distance between the seats, was "the worst."

He said, "You have to realize that you're giving up some comfort to fly at those low prices." (With Inputs from Agencies)