There has been considerable debate lately about reclining airplane seats. Some feel it’s their right to recline. Others see it as outrageously rude. And then there are those who couldn’t care less. As a short person, I’ve never had a problem with the person in front of me reclining, but I can understand that it would be frustrating if your legs were already wedged in the space.

The leg room we’re given on a plane varies significantly by airline, seat class, and whether the flight is short haul (less than six hours) or long haul (greater than six hours). The data source provides the seat pitch (distance between your seatback and the one in front of you) and seat width (armrest to armrest) for various seat types (e.g., standard, recliner, flat bed) and plane types (e.g., Boeing 737, Airbus A320) for all reporting airlines. Currently, the source has data for 109 airlines. For instances where a range was reported, I used the average value.

I’ve graphed the data on six separate plots because there was considerable overlap, even after jittering the points. This allows you to see clustering by seat class. The average seat pitch and width for short-haul economy class is 31.7 inches and 17.5 inches, respectively.

Data source: http://www.seatguru.com/charts/generalcharts.php