The middle seat on a modern airliner is generally not your best choice.

It possesses neither the freedom of the aisle nor the privacy of the window.

However, one airline is giving flyers in the middle seat something to cheer about.

Frontier Airlines recently announced that the width of its middle seats will be boosted to 19.3 inches.

That's an increase of 1.3 inches over the current seats.

For a budget airline, this is the equivalent of a country mile.

Aisle and window seats onboard Frontier's fleet of Airbus jets are 18.1 inches wide.

According to the airline, each new lightweight ultra-slim seat will save Frontier 214 gallons of fuel per year.

"Our new seats are both customer friendly and environmentally friendly," Frontier Airlines president Barry Biffle said in a statement.

"Not only are we saving fuel but also giving customers the most possible personal space and comfort."

However, there's a catch. Frontier isn't making its seats wider out of charity. The new seats make up for the airline shrinking the space between each row of passengers to just 28 inches.

According to Conde Nast Traveler's Brian Sumers, Frontier is also shrinking the size of its onboard bathrooms. As a result, the new cabin configuration will allow the airline to fit an additional 12 seats per plane, Conde Nast reports.

In addition, Frontier is removing the seatback LCD TVs that currently populate its fleet.

"The TVs have been removed from the plane to reduce weight," a Frontier Airlines spokesperson told Business Insider in an email. "Additionally, due to their weight and low passenger use they were an unprofitable offering."

These changes are part of Frontier's transition from a full-service business model to an ultra low-cost airline.

Have a look at Frontier's seat video feature the airline's furry mascot: