Which airplane seat has the most legroom?

Sometimes found at the front of the cabins in large-bodied aircraft, exit row seats are in very high demand for long-distance economy class flights, especially for tall passengers. On a Boeing 737, for instance, the front cabin or over-wing exit seats have an extra 6-8 inches of pitch with unlimited legroom.



People Also Ask

In the U.S., the airlines JetBlue and Southwest consistently offer the most legroom with an average of around 32 inches per seat, although you can find a few JetBlue planes with 33 inches of legroom. Alaska and Hawaiian seats typically have 31 or 32 inches of legroom, too.

MORE DETAILS

The study looked at different criteria for the airlines and took an average measurement across the aircraft fleets. For short-haul travel, the best airlines for the most legroom were revealed to be British Airways and Tui. Both offered an average up to 33 inches in economy class, taken across each of their aircraft.

MORE DETAILS

Benefits of Extra legroom Even a few inches can deliver a more relaxing in-air experience, particularly for tall flyers. Not all airlines offer the same amount of space, so what appears to be Extra legroom on one airline may be just an inch or two more spacious than standard economy for another.

MORE DETAILS

“It goes without saying, but always try to get an exit row seat,” says Paul Miller, founder of Family Skier. “The fact is that many exit row seats have more legroom than a [domestic] first-class seat. This usually involves snagging the seat online at the time of booking or well before the flight.”

MORE DETAILS

OK, so the back row is the single worst place to sit on a plane and you should steer clear of it at all costs. But which other seats should you avoid? All middle seats are unpopular for obvious reasons, and the seats in front of an exit row aren't ideal either.

MORE DETAILS

U.S. Airlines with the Best Legroom Alaska and Hawaiian seats typically have 31 or 32 inches of legroom, too. Delta, American, and United all offer between 30 and 32 inches of legroom depending on the aircraft, with Delta typically sticking closer to a full 32 inches of legroom.

MORE DETAILS

JetBlue seats are slightly larger than average for economy class, but their premium economy class is where it really wins for plus size passengers. For only a small price increase, passengers can get so much value from the premium ticket, with seats with a 38-inch pitch and also priority boarding.

MORE DETAILS

JetBlue scores at the top for the best airlines with comfortable economy seats. Passengers will enjoy an above-average seat pitch of 32-34” and a seat size of 17.8 – 18.4”. Not to mention, JetBlue is one of only two domestic airlines in the U.S. that offers free WiFi to passengers.

MORE DETAILS

Reserving a seat in the exit row is a good strategy for long-limbed folk. Aisle seats in these rows are especially sought after for stretching those long legs out. Larger planes sometimes have a double row of exit seats.

MORE DETAILS

Front row seats are located on the first row of the cabin section and they have a wall in front of them. Some of the front row seats in the rear cabin are also suitable for cot/bassinet. On our short haul destinations, these seats usually offer more legroom.

MORE DETAILS

Economy Plus seats are within the standard economy cabin, though they're located just behind first class seating. They provide more legroom than regular economy seats and also offer free alcoholic beverages on premium transcontinental routes. These seats are more expensive than preferred seats.

MORE DETAILS

Some may be surprised to learn that, at 30in, Ryanair is very slightly more generous than easyJet (29in). Flying BA will often give you more legroom: its seat pitch figure is 29in to 34in. At Tui Airways, it is 28in to 34in.

MORE DETAILS

While easyJet offers 29-inches of legroom for passengers, Ryanair offers a slightly more generous 30 inches. However, the tables were turned when it came to seat width, with Ryanair found to have the narrowest seats at 16 inches, compared to easyJet's 17.5 inches.

MORE DETAILS

Spirit. Like Frontier, Spirit has the skinniest rows of any American airline, with a seat pitch of 28 inches — and they don't recline. Spirit lagged at 8 out of 10 American airlines studied in the in The Points Guys' 2021 report.

MORE DETAILS