Fliers want window seat even if smaller

Ray MartinChief Executive Officer, Americas
April 24, 2013, 4:01 PM GMT+0

Plane manufacturer, Airbus, has put forward plans to reduce the size of its window seats and make room for wider seats in the aisles. These wider seats would be charged at a premium. In an Omnibus survery fielded April 16-18 2013 we asked consumers how this might affect their choice of plane seat.

Without any changes to the standard seat configuration, or premium charges, window seats are by far the most popular and are favored by 57%. Aisle seats are preferred by 28%, with a slight preponderance of men 32% over women 25%. 14% did not have a preference but only 1% would actively chose to sit in the middle seat.

If the new seat sizes and charges were introduced 17% thought they would prefer the aisle seat, and 59% thought they would prefer the smaller window seat without the surcharge. 4% thought that they might prefer a normal sized middle seat to a more expensive aisle seat or a smaller window seat.

For further information about poll results, and for details about methodology and Omnibus services, please email omnibus.us@yougov.com.

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