The most miserable seat on the plane

The middle seat is considered the worst seat on the plane. Photo: Hasan Gulec/Pexels.

According to Business Insider , the middle seat is often considered “the worst seat on a plane” because it does not have the view of a window seat nor the freedom of movement of an aisle seat. The person sitting in the middle is sandwiched between two passengers, lacks arm space, has difficulty standing up to go to the bathroom, and often finds themselves in a state of “not knowing where to put their hands.”

The psychology of “avoiding the middle seat” is even more evident in the data. A survey cited in the New York Post shows that only 1.7% of American travelers prefer to sit in the middle seat. Previously, an analysis of passenger behavior showed that many people even accept staying overnight at the airport just to be able to change to an aisle seat, instead of having to sit in the middle on a crowded flight.

Because of this discrimination, middle seats are often the last choice in the seat allocation system. Popular aircraft such as the Airbus A320 or Boeing 737 in 3-3 configurations often quickly fill up window and aisle seats, leaving middle seats available to late-booking or low-class passengers who do not have a choice of seats.

Meanwhile, Business Insider explains that on low-cost tickets, passengers are often “auto-assigned” to the middle seat, which is why this seat is rarely empty, no matter how hated it is.

Middle seats remain in high demand despite being hated thanks to the airline's effective business strategy. Photo: Adrien Olichon, Kelly/Pexels.

But the reason why the middle seat is almost empty comes from a more important reason: revenue. The aviation industry always optimizes a Passenger Load Factor (PLF) index - seat utilization coefficient. An analysis of PLF shows that the higher this coefficient, the better the airline utilizes its operating capacity; low PLF means many empty seats, leading to a significant decrease in revenue. Therefore, to achieve economic efficiency, airlines always try to "fill every seat", including the middle seat.

During the pandemic, some airlines left middle seats empty to create a safe distance. However, according to an analysis report by OAG, if they wanted to leave middle seats empty permanently and still maintain revenue, ticket prices could have to increase by up to 50%. This is an increase that is unacceptable to most passengers, so as soon as demand recovers, airlines immediately return to the "fill every seat" model.

At the same time, airlines have also turned “avoiding the middle seat” into an additional source of revenue. Many studies on pricing strategies have shown that seat selection is one of the important non-ticket revenue segments, with passengers willing to pay more to choose a window seat, an aisle seat, or a quieter area. This turns the middle seat into a kind of “reference position,” and those who do not want to sit there have to pay more.

Some airlines have even turned the empty middle seat into a product. For example, Virgin Australia offers “neighbour-free seating”, where passengers can bid for the empty seat next to them, paying for the middle seat to be empty. This is proof that the empty middle seat is not “random”, but a product with economic value.

From a behavioral perspective, the fact that most passengers dislike middle seats actually helps keep them occupied. People who book in advance, buy cheap tickets, forget to select a seat, or don’t want to pay extra become the natural group that fills middle seats. A few exceptions, like people who believe middle seats in the middle row are safer in an accident, are rare exceptions.

In other words, the middle seat is a classic example of the balance between passenger experience and economic efficiency. For passengers, it is a cramped, stuffy, and uncomfortable position. But for airlines, the middle seat is an asset that needs to be optimized, and can even be “recycled” into a service that makes more money.

As long as airlines compete for revenue and passengers still prefer low fares, the middle seat will continue to be a “miserable” position, but you will hardly find it empty.

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