Seating Configurations

The seating configuration in economy class is one of the more important indicator of how the airlines view their customers.  I’ve been on most types of Boeing as well as Airbus products and seen economy class configuration ranging from 3-3 on the typical transcontinental aircrafts, to 2-3-2, 2-4-2, 2-5-2, 3-3-3, and 3-4-3 on intercontinental aircrafts.  The variations typically go from the 767, A340, 777, and 747 (A380, which I haven’t flown on as yet).

Take for example, the 777, I think it is the easiest way for flyers to figure out what the airline thinks of its economy class passenger (relative to against each other)  From what I know, there are essentially three economy seating configurations in the 777.  The 2-5-2 configuration is operated by United and has been for a long time, and it’s a good deal if you get either of the side rows.  On most other airlines, the 3-3-3 configuration dominates, and it’s reasonable, no one is unduly annoyed, and the space is reasonable. 

Then there is the dreaded 3-4-3 configuration.  The 3-4-3 is actually a configuration typically used for ultra larger aircrafts like the 747 and the A380.  Now, a quick comparison, the cabin width of the 777 is 19.3 ft, on the 747, it is 20 ft, on the A380, it is 21.6 ft.  Now, you might saw, it’s only an 8 inch difference on the cabin width, what’s the big deal?  Well, think about it this well, when you have 9-abreast seating vs 10 abreast seating, the typical seat width is about 17 inches.  So, to fit in a 3-4-3 configuration, two things could happen, either the seat width is reduced, or the isle width is reduced.  Both options are terrible for the passengers, if the width is reduced, the passenger is squished, if the isle width is reduced, then the aisle passengers probably gets bumped all the time by the beverage cars coming down the aisle.  Either way it’s a poor trade off.

The bottom line, if you’re a casual traveler who flies only once in a while, before you buy your ticket, it doesn’t hurt to check a site like Seatguru or SeatExpert.  A couple of minutes on figuring out what kind of aircraft and the seating configuration can make a big difference if you’re going to be in the same seat with 300 other passengers for 10 hours or longer.