The bulkhead rows tend to have more leg room as well, so much so that the window and middle seat passengers can duck out to the restroom without disturbing their seatmates. Personally, I avoid the front rows because I like having quick access to my essentials in my carry-on right at my feet—and there’s no underseat space to store bags in the front.
Following that same mentality, exit rows were also a popular choice. Two of the top 10 seat choices in the survey were the window seats of the exit rows, with the left side coming in at No. 7 with 2.98% of respondents choosing it, and the right side in the No. 10 position with 2.6%. In fact, 41% of those surveyed were willing to take on the responsibilities of assisting in an emergency for the added benefit of roomier leg space.
Recline vs. upright
Perhaps one of the biggest debates around on-board etiquette these days is whether or not fliers should be able to recline their seats—so much so that some airlines have started to use stationary seats, often referred to as “pre-reclined.”
In the survey, 44% of US fliers answered yes to the question: “Do you think it’s rude when passengers recline their seats during a flight?” “This stat is surprising given that reclining seats is a fairly common practice among fliers,” Miller said, adding that two in five passengers see the practice as “an intrusion into their space.”
Personally, ever since seeing that image of the crushed laptop resulting from a seat recline, my anxiety has spiked about placing any device on the seat-back tray. On a recent flight to Nice, France, I actually asked the woman in the seat in front of me if she could please let me know before she leaned her seat back. She was very agreeable and we even swapped stories about flight-etiquette nightmares.
That said, the fact that bulkhead seats eliminate the risk of a sudden recline might also be a part of their appeal.
Airline loyalty vs. seat comfort
When I was more of a casual traveler, I’d pick the cheapest airline that would get me to my destination most efficiently. But with my closest airport being the United Airlines hub of Newark Liberty International, I’ve started to accrue status and developed a habit for chasing PQPs.
Having experienced the cabin set-up in economy, economy plus, and—on those lucky flights I get an upgrade—first class, I will say that United’s seat comfort is one reason I remain loyal to the airline. Like me, 45% of the fliers surveyed said they chose what airline to fly based on the comfort of seats.
But which airline has the most comfortable seats? A little over one-third of the survey’s respondents selected Delta Air Lines as the top US carrier for seat comfort. American Airlines and United were tied in second place at 15.9% each, and Southwest came in third with 14.5%, followed by JetBlue with 10.2%, and Alaska with 6.3%.
At the other end, Sun Country and Spirit were voted as having the least comfortable seats with a mere 0.3% of votes each, just edged out by Allegiant with 0.4%, Frontier with 0.8%, and Hawaiian with 1.8%.
