I’ve worked in the aviation industry for many years. Spent my time working on the ramp servicing airplanes. Now I work in operations management for a small regional airline.
I typically don’t care where I sit (though I don’t like sitting in the middle seat if there is one). Sometimes I prefer the window if I’m going to an airport that I’m not familiar with. Sometimes I prefer the aisle if I just want to get some work done during the flight.
Aviation is a truly fascinating industry. I cannot imagine doing anything else for a living and I enjoy going to work every day. That said - I find that the act of being a passenger on an airplane is usually extremely boring.
Window seat. But my biggest preference is to sit as far forward as possible without being at the bulkead (I want a seat cubby to store my stuff) 'cause I get naseous in the back plus I like getting off the plane fast. If being forward means I have the aisle or even the middle, I’m OK with it; I’m not tall or large so I don’t have issues
I HATE the aisle seat. Especially if you are at the back of the plane. Everyone lines up to use the bathroom and are always right next to you. Very distracting and their business is right in your face Even the aisle further up the plane, then everyone bumps you with their bag as they pass you. By far the worst is the first row behind first class–you have four seats in first class, then it switches to either five seats or six seats at row 6. And of course the aisle shifts. So if you are in that first aisle seat you get hit by everyone who boards.
So if I can’t get bumped to first class (luckily this seems to be happening more and more for me) then I prefer the window seat at the exit row over the wings. Lots of leg room and I can sleep against the outside wall.
eta–I also hate the aisle cause everytime I sit there it seems I have ms. bladder control problem sitting next to me and I am up and down a dozen times during the flight!
I used to love window seats but after flying for the umpteenth time it gets kind of old. I prefer aisle seats for the most part. I can’t sleep on planes most of the time anyway.
Window seat. Except for those tiny planes that seat one on one side, and two on the other. The wall of the plane curves in too much for me to be able to put my feet flat on the ground. That’s an awful and uncomfortable way to fly, but luckily those flights are usually very short.
It depends upon the size of the plane. On a large plane I’ll take the window seat - emergency row please - but on very small planes, I’m tall enough that the curve of the fuselage can make it uncomfortable so I go for the aisle seat.
Window! Sure, a lot of the time your view is boring (clouds, the ocean), but occasionally you fly over something totally worth having to climb over someone to get to the bathroom.
Aisle – I’m slightly claustrophobic, and I prefer the extra space over my head and around me. Plus easier to get up, whether to use the john or just to stretch my legs on a long flight.
I did regret it last week, when flying into a 3440M (about 11.286 feet) airport in Tibet. I was looking over my neighbors shoulder as we decended in between some maybe 18,000 foot peaks to land on a leveled mountain peak with a pretty sheer drop over the side. It was AWESOME. You fly up a long valley and the surrounding mountains keep growing higher and finally you land.
And behind the wing too - I like watching what’s going on. But no matter how much I fly, it’s not a matter of the window seat ever "getting old "for me, simply because the MAIN reason I like it is that - I’m a very big guy - I can sort of twist myself into a diagonal position and rest my head in the window cavity to get some sleep. Aisle seat and I’ve got my head flopping everywhere, not to mention a stranger falling asleep on my shoulder, and homicidal drinks carts bruising my shoulders.
I don’t care if it’s a night flight in fog. I want a window seat so I can sleep.
My sentiments exactly. I’m a tall guy, and having those few extra inches of space make a long-haul flight a lot more tolerable. It’s not a huge issue on a short flight to somewhere like NZ, Sydney, or Melbourne, but when you’ve got a 12 hour flight to Los Angeles or a 25 hour flight to London ahead of you, those few extra inches make all the difference.
Aisle seat because I hate climbing over laps to get to the bathroom. Let them climb over mine. Also, if I’ve got the window I’ll get bored and start looking out and deliberately imagining what it would be like to have a critical systems failure and smash into the earth. I do this to see how close I can come to inducing a physical panic reaction in myself without actually spazzing out. Sometimes I start to get a tightness in my chest while doing this, which is neat but probably not good for my blood pressure.
Even the aisle further up the plane, then everyone bumps you with their bag as they pass you. By far the worst is the first row behind first class–you have four seats in first class, then it switches to either five seats or six seats at row 6. And of course the aisle shifts. So if you are in that first aisle seat you get hit by everyone who boards.