Business class seat in a Lufthansa Boeing 747-400

Control screen fixed to the back side of an economy class airline seat (Airbus), the tray is stowed

Airline seats are chairs on an airliner in which passengers are accommodated for the duration of the journey. Such seats are usually arranged in rows running across the airplane's fuselage. A diagram of such seats in an aircraft is called an airline seat map. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... The Boeing 747, commonly nicknamed the Jumbo Jet, is a long-haul, widebody commercial airliner manufactured by Boeing. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2112 × 2816 pixel, file size: 919 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Permission See below. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2112 × 2816 pixel, file size: 919 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Permission See below. ... Typical Western wooden chair A chair is a piece of furniture for sitting, consisting of a seat, a back, and sometimes arm rests, commonly for use by one person. ... An Airbus A340 airliner operated by Air Jamaica An airliner is a large fixed-wing aircraft with the primary function of transporting paying passengers. ... The fuselage can be short, and seemingly unaerodynamic, as in this Christen Eagle 2 The fuselage (from the French fuselé spindle-shaped) is an aircrafts main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. ... An airplane seat map or seating chart, is a diagram of the seat layout inside a passenger aircraft. ...

Features and amenities

On the oldest of planes, seats were armchairs which stood loosely in the cabin, but moving furniture in the aircraft is a safety hazard, and seats are now fastened to the floor. However, airlines usually want the flexibility to move seats around or remove them, so the seats are typically attached to rails underneath the floor which run along the aircraft fuselage. If the airline wants to reconfigure the seating, this is a fairly minor operation. Look up chair in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Cabin may refer to: Cabin (housing), A small, roughly built house usually with a wood exterior and typically found in rural areas. ...

For passenger safety, airline seats are equipped with seatbelts, and there is a "fasten seatbelts" sign above each seat which is lit up when passengers are expected to remain seated with the seatbelt fastened. This is typically during take-off and landing, although turbulence may also prompt the captain to turn on this sign. A three-point seat belt. ... Ryanair Boeing 737 taking off Take off is the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground (taxiing) into the air (see flight), usually from a runway. ... MyTravel Airways Airbus A320 landing Landing is the last part of a flight, where a flying animal or aircraft returns to the ground. ... In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is a flow regime characterized by chaotic, stochastic property changes. ...

Seats are frequently equipped with further amenities. Airline seats are frequently equipped with a reclining mechanism for increased passenger comfort, a tray in the seatback which folds down to form a small table, and a pocket which may contain an in-flight magazine and a "safety on board" manual. Seats may be equipped with power ports for small electrical appliances and ports for headphones for the audio entertainment. Some airlines, in particular on longer journeys, and in the higher-fare seats of business class, place TV-screens in the back of each seat as part of the In-flight Entertainment system. Another feature often seen in first-class cabins are seats which recline to a flat position, forming a bed. EmPower is a line of products by Astronics Advanced Electronic Systems for providing power to aircraft seats. ... In-ear headphones Headphones (also known as earphones, stereophones, headsets, or the slang term cans) is a transducer that receives an electrical signal from a media player or receiver and uses speakers placed in close proximity to the ears (hence the name earphone) to convert the signal into audible sound... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... In-flight entertainment (IFE) refers to the entertainment available to aircraft passengers during a flight. ... Look up bed in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

On small and short-haul aircraft, or on low-cost carriers, some of these amenities may not be installed. For instance, on several aircraft Ryanair has installed non-reclining seats without seat pockets with the safety manuals stitched to the seat back instead.^[1] Even on airliners with reclining seats, some seats may have a restricted recline or no recline. Typically this will be the rear row of the cabin where a rear bulkhead blocks the recline, or seats immediately in front of the emergency exit where a reclined seat might restrict access to the emergency exit, creating a potential safety hazard. Independent seat review sites such as SeatGuru and LoveMySeat often warn passengers against these seats. During take-off and landing the crew ask passengers to put their seats in an "upright" (unreclined) position^[2] and to lift and stow their tray tables. Ryanair (ISEQ: RYA, LSE: RYA, NASDAQ: RYAAY) is an Irish airline headquartered in Dublin; however, its biggest operational base is at London Stansted Airport. ... Bulkhead may refer to the following: Bulkhead (partition), a wall within the hull of a ship, vehicle or container Bulkhead (barrier) Bulkhead line See also: Flatcar Bulkhead Category: ... Emergency Exit, by Manlio Santanelli, is a play written originally in Italian. ...

Seating layout

2+4+2 seating layout on a wide body jet

3+3 seating layout on a narrow body jet

Airline cabins are frequently classified as narrow-body if there is a single aisle with seats on either side, or wide-body if there are two aisles with a block of seats between them in addition to the seats on the side. Image File history File links Flight-interior. ... Image File history File links Flight-interior. ... Image File history File links Southwest_Airlines_Cabin. ... Image File history File links Southwest_Airlines_Cabin. ... This Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 is an example of a narrow-body passenger cabin. ... Wide-body Virgin Atlantic Airbus A340-300 A wide-body aircraft is a large airliner with a fuselage diameter of about 5 to 6 metres and twin aisles. ...

The number of seats abreast is affected by the aircraft width. On very small aircraft such as the Beechcraft 1900 there are only individual seats on each side of the aisle (1+1 seating). The widest narrow body aircraft such as the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 have six abreast seating in a 3+3 layout. Asymmetrical layouts also exist, the Embraer Regional Jets have 1+2 seating while the Douglas DC-9 aircraft typically feature 2+3 seating. The Beechcraft 1900 Beechliner is a 19-passenger, pressurized twin-engine turboprop airplane manufactured by the Beechcraft Division of the Raytheon Company (now Hawker Beechcraft}. It was designed as and is primarily used as a regional airliner. ... The Airbus A320 family of short-to-medium range commercial passenger aircraft are manufactured by Airbus S.A.S.. Family members include the A318, A319, A320, and A321, as well as the ACJ business jet. ... The Boeing 737 is the worlds most popular short to medium range, single aisle, narrow body airliner. ... The Embraer ERJ 145 family of regional jets are produced by Embraer, a Brazilian aerospace company. ... The Douglas DC-9 is a twin-engined jet airliner, first manufactured in 1965 and, in much modified form and under a succession of different names. ...

On wide body-aircraft the center block of seats between the aisles can have as many as 5 seats on planes like the layout on some McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and Boeing 777 aircraft, although Boeing recommends the 3+3+3 over the 2+5+2 layout.^[3] Very wide planes such as the Boeing 747 or the Airbus A380 have ten seats abreast, typically in a 3+4+3 layout, although this layout is also sometimes used as a high density layout on aircraft normally seating nine abreast, such as the 777 or DC-10. The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American three-engine medium- to long-range widebody airliner, with two engines mounted on underwing pylons and a third engine at the base of the vertical stabilizer. ... The Boeing 777 is an American long-range wide-body twinjet airliner built by Boeings Commercial Airplanes division. ... The Boeing 747, commonly nicknamed the Jumbo Jet, is a long-haul, widebody commercial airliner manufactured by Boeing. ... The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, four-engined airliner manufactured by EADS (Airbus S.A.S.). It is the largest passenger airliner in the world. ...

Window seats are located at the sides of the aircraft, and usually next to a window, although some aircraft have seat rows where there is a window missing. Window seats are preferred by passengers who want to have a view, or a wall which they can lean against. Passengers in seats adjacent to the aisle have the advantage of being able to leave the seat without having to clamber over the other passengers, and having an aisle they can stretch their legs into. If a seat block has three or more seats, there will also be middle seats which are unpopular because the passenger is sandwiched between two other passengers without advantages of either window or aisle seats.^[4] Middle seats are typically booked last.^[5] It has been suggested that window frames be merged into this article or section. ...

On most commercial aircraft, seats are forward facing. There are exceptions. On military aircraft seats are frequently rearward facing. Southwest Airlines previously offered a few such seats on some aircraft, rearward facing seats are also common on business jets to provide a "conference" type layout. British Airways also has rearward-facing seats in its Club World (Intercontinental Business Class) Cabin. It has been argued that rearward facing seats are safer because in the event of a crash, the sudden deceleration will propel the passenger into a rearward facing seat instead of out of it. The force is therefore distributed over the entire seat back, instead of the straps of the seat belt. The argument against such seats has been based on passenger comfort, safety and cost. Comfortwise, an argument against rearward seats has been that passengers who desire the natural layout of forward facing seats may be uncomfortable with a rearward layout. On the safety aspect, the argument has been that during a plane crash, debris such as luggage, will fly forward in the cabin, quite possibly into the passengers in rearward facing seats. On the cost aspect, rearward facing seats need additional strengthening which adds extra weight and therefore higher costs.^[6] Southwest Airlines, Inc. ... For the 1930s airline of similar name, see British Airways Ltd. ...

Seat size

When evaluating the size (and comfort) of a seat, typical terms used are pitch and width. Seat pitch is the distance between the seat rows. Typically this is in the order of 30 inches, for most U.S. carriers the pitch in economy class is 31 or 32 inches. More seat pitch usually means more legroom, but this is also affected by the thickness of the seat back, airliners have claimed that the reduction of seat pitch from 33-34 inches down to 31-32 inches is compensated by the thinner seat backs.^[7] Seat width is the distance from armrest to armrest, in Economy class this is typically around 17 inches.^[8] Staggered seating can increase seat pitch.^[9] An inch (plural: inches; symbol or abbreviation: in or, sometimes, ″ - a double prime) is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Material

Airline seats are designed to be lightweight, but at the same time strong and fire resistant, while also taking into account passenger comfort. A typical design is an aluminium frame with blocks of urethane foam attached to it. A layer of fire-resistant fabric, for instance Kevlar, goes over this, and at the top is a layer of cloth or leather.^[10] Chemical structure of Kevlar. ...

Leather seats are more costly than traditional cloth seats. Even so, several airliners, including low cost carriers, choose leather not only to present a more "luxurious" product, but also because such seats are easier to clean and prevent spilt liquids from soaking through to the padding.^[11] Boeing 737-200 of low-cost Irish airline Ryanair A low-cost carrier (also known as a no-frills or discount carrier) is an airline that offers low fares but eliminates most traditional passenger services. ...

Colour

In the fairly early days of aviation airline seats were typically of earthly and soft colours such as light browns and gray, intended to calm the passengers. During the 1970s brighter colours such as red and orange became more commonplace. After this shades of blue and gray, with a more business-like tone, have become the most common choice.^[12]

Standing room alternative to seats

In April 2006, the New York Times reported that Airbus was considering offering an option with standing room instead of seats.^[13] Instead of a chair, the passenger would be strapped onto a cushioned backboard. Such an arrangement would be allowable by FAA regulations. However, the article was later corrected to state that Airbus had merely considered the idea before rejecting it. The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... Categories: Stub ... FAA may refer to: Federal Aviation Administration in the United States Fleet Air Arm in the UK Royal Navy Fuerza Aérea Argentina in Argentina This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Auxiliary

Controls, lights and nozzles (Boeing 737)

At the back side of each seat, in rare cases at a wall upfront, several devices are provided for comfort and information such as a stowable tray, a bag and in most cases screens. Theses appear upfront of the using passenger. In addition, above the seat are nozzles, lights for reading, lights for information provided by the pilot, controls for calling the flight attendant, switches to turn on or off the reading lights and control the individual air flow. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1536 × 2048 pixel, file size: 259 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1536 × 2048 pixel, file size: 259 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... A tray is a shallow container designed for carrying things. ... For other uses, see Bag (disambiguation). ... Information in this article or section has not been verified against sources and may not be reliable. ...

At window seats there are window shields for protection of sun light. They have to be slid up during landings and takeoffs by ICAO regulations and/or law. This rule is in place to provide visibility into the aircraft during emergencies. Many armrests provide ashtrays, devices for reclining the chair, and control interfaces for in-flight entertainment systems. MyTravel Airways Airbus A320 landing Landing is the last part of a flight, where a flying animal or aircraft returns to the ground. ... A Ryanair Boeing 737 takes off from Bristol International Airport, England Takeoff is the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground (taxiing) to flying in the air (see flight), usually on a runway. ... A typical glass ashtray In the days when smoking was still permitted in public buildings, ashtrays were fixed to the walls in corridors at regular intervals. ... In-flight entertainment (IFE) refers to the entertainment available to aircraft passengers during a flight. ...

Manufacturers

A important manufacturer of airline seats is the German company Recaro. Other manufacturers include Weber Aircraft Seating, B/E Aerospace, and Contour Premium. Manufacturing is the transformation of raw materials into finished goods for sale, or intermediate processes involving the production or finishing of semi-manufactures. ... Recaro is a German company based in Kirchheim unter Teck in the vicinity of Stuttgart, well known for their bucket seats and commonly contracted to produce upgraded racing style seats for all the sporty cars built by the Volkswagen Group as well as many other manufacturers. ...

References