Bagging a window seat on a plane usually results in a little internal cheer. Because not only does it mean somewhere to lean your head and a bit of extra room for your stuff, but an unrivalled view of the outside world as you soar above the clouds, too.
But more and more frequently, rows of seats and the windows on aeroplanes aren't actually lining up, meaning a passenger ends up viewing more grey panel than they do blue skies. But why?
According Today I Found Out, it's not for safety or comfort, but rather so airlines can fit more seats - meaning more passengers - onto each plane.
Considering that results in more money from ticket sales for them, it actually makes a lot of sense.
TIFO report that in 2010, RyanAir considered introducing planes with no seats at all, in a bid to fit as many passengers on as possible. And while this idea never came through (God forbid), they did start reducing leg room to fit more seats in - hence why not every row lines up with a window.
The YouTube channel went on to add that each individual airline has control over how many seats are inside the cabin, the layout of said seats and how rows they can fit, meaning it's up to their discretion to choose.
So that explains why seat 26F is very, very squished and has no view of the ocean, then.
Dusty Baxter-Wright is an award-winning journalist and the Entertainment and Lifestyle Director at Cosmopolitan, having previously worked at Sugarscape. She was named one of PPA’s 30 Under 30 for her work covering pop culture, careers, interiors and travel, and oversees the site’s Entertainment and Lifestyle strategy across print, digital and video. As a journalist for the best part of a decade, she has interviewed everyone from Louis Theroux and Channing Tatum to Margot Robbie and Ncuti Gatwa, while she has also spoken on Times Radio and BBC Radio. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram here.
