Over the years, airline seats have gone from being a commodity to being a luxury item. ABC News has said that some airlines are now charging extra for window and aisle seats, meaning passengers who desire a view may need to pay more for the privilege.
Seeing the world fly by or staying on the center line
Window seats are known to be a nice choice for passengers who enjoy looking at the sky and seeing the world fly by during a flight. Window seats offer many amenities, such as the feeling of additional privacy, and being able to get a closer look at the design of the windows, which lets the plane’s architecture pop out.
Photo: Jacob Arnow | Simple Flying
Furthermore, a window seat gives you a wall where you can have the option to lean your head against the plane, and it puts you in control of the all-mighty window shade. One of the leaders in cabin interiors is Safran. Safran offers cabin interior options for every commercial aircraft currently available on the market.
Safran
Safran produces just about everything short of fuselages from engines to seats to satellite propulsion systems.
Additionally, Safran not only offers seat designs but also has multiple galleys, including their MaxFlex design. This galley is the most popular in the world because it has a record of reliability and performance that the company says can meet the needs of the industry.
Photo: Jacob Arnow | Simple Flying
Safran is a global aerospace & defense company with a market cap of over 88 billion EUR as of September 2024. You can find more information regarding their engines, cabin interior and other products by clicking here.
The debate
There has always been debate about whether window seats or aisle seats are better. Nerdwallet says that although the window seat can give you a great view, the aisle seat “has more freedom of movement and a little extra legroom.”
In truth, all types of seats, regardless of where they are on the aircraft, can be a good fit depending on the individual needs of the passenger who is sitting in them.
The American Airlines Group – connecting the world with every flight
American Airlines
is a major airline that provides services to the United States and most of the world. The airline handles approximately 200 million passengers per year, and American Airlines own website says that “together with our American Eagle regional partners, [they] offer thousands of flights daily to more than 350 destinations in more than 60 countries.”
Windowless Worlds
Airline-specific seat maps are the key to finding the kind of window seat you want.
Plane mapping data is provided by AeroLOPA, one of the world’s best websites for seat maps. Remember to always confirm with airline staff regarding seats or other accommodations during the booking process.
The charts below only include seats with no window directly beside what would normally be a window seat. Some aircraft have rows with 2 windows per window seat or a window that is partly obscured by a seat.
As previously mentioned, American Airlines is a major airline that provides services to the United States and most of the world, and because of this, its fleet will be used as the example for this article.
Widebody planes
American Airlines has 7 models that are used for widebody services from the 
Boeing
777 and 787 families. They are listed below, along with the rows on each aircraft that have no window that would normally be a window seat.
|
Wide Body Aircraft Types |
Rows With Windowless “Window Seats” |
|---|---|
|
777-200ER (Concept D) |
Rows 18 and 26 |
|
777-200ER (Super Diamond) |
Rows 18 and 26 |
|
777-300ER |
Rows 11, 16 and 31 |
|
787-8 (Super Diamond) |
Rows 5, 20, 27 and 28 |
|
787-8 (Concept D) |
Rows 5, 20, 27 and 28 |
|
789-9 (Super Diamond) |
Row 24, 35 and 36 |
|
787-9 (Adient Ascent) |
Rows 5, 23, (34 and 35*) |
Narrow bodies
A large portion of American Airlines aircraft are Narrowbody
because they are the most fuel-efficient way to service vital but less-traveled domestic routes. Approximately 80% of the American Airlines fleet is this type of aircraft.
Below are the narrow bodies in the American Airlines fleet, including data on which rows have windowless “window seats.”
|
Narrow Body Aircraft Types |
Rows With Windowless “Window Seats” |
|---|---|
|
A319 (Oasis) |
None |
|
A319S |
None |
|
A320 |
None |
|
A321ceo (Oasis) |
Rows 10, 16, 17, and 24 |
|
A321ceo (Transcon) |
Row 11 |
|
A321neo (Kodiak) |
Row 27 |
|
737-800 (Kodiak) |
Rows 12 and 13 |
|
737-MAX 800 (Oasis | Kodiak) |
Rows 12 and 13 |
The roaring eagles
Aircraft in the CRJ family that are used by American Eagle include the -200, -700, and -900 models. Their configurations make it so a significant number of windows are not aligned with any one seat.
Photo: Wenjie Zheng | Shutterstock
The smallest aircraft used by American Eagle is the Embraer 145. These aircraft are used for small domestic flights. Its Embraer 145 and 170 all have windows next to their window seats. However, some Embraer 175’s windows do not align with a seat.
The final question
Whichever airline you are flying, the best way to get the type of seat you want is to do some research because, at the end of the day, you can be in charge of how you fly. When you choose your seat, the question should now be, “Do you enjoy seeing the world flying by or do you stay on the center line?“