Economy seating on long-haul flights generally comprises of blocks of two, three or four seats. For example, the Airbus A330 typically features seats in a 2-4-2 configuration. Wider Boeing 747s will also have four in the middle, but three on each side.
A popular configuration that is no longer around is 2-5-2. This is where there are two seats on each side and a block of five in the middle, obviously. There are some benefits to this arrangement, so it’s curious as to why nobody uses it any longer.
Economy Seating As 2-5-2
Having two seats on each side is a real boon for couples travelling together. You can chill out and relax without having some unknown person sitting beside you. It is one reason I enjoy flying on the Airbus A330, even though I generally fly on my own. There is only one person to get past if you’re in the window seat.
Another benefit is for families of four and five. You can all sit together in the middle block of economy seating. This makes it easier for people to keep an eye on their children, rather than being split up over the cabin.
The original widebody aircraft in the 1970s such as the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar and it’s competitor the Douglas DC-10 often had a block of five in the middle. Airlines such as Finnair, Delta Air Lines, Air Canada, TWA and more all had this kind of thing.
How Come It’s Gone?
For one thing, imagine being stuck in the middle of the five seats as a solo traveller. You would feel quite hemmed in, especially on a long 12 hour plus flight. I couldn’t imagine much worse!
Overall Thoughts
While I have never experienced economy seating with five in the middle, it certainly looks interesting. The early cabins look more spacious as they have no overhead bins in the middle.
It would take a brave airline to bring this back today. I can’t see it happening, but you never know what might happen. Adding extra seats is an airline habit, after all.
Have you experienced the 2-5-2 seating in economy class? What did you think of it? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured TWA L-1011 cabin image by ConvairsForever on Flickr.
Air Canada TriStar cabin via Doug Bull’s Commercial Aviation Photo Site.
Finnair seat map via Finnair on Twitter.
I had the misfortune to fly Martinair’s DC-10s back in the 80s. They had a 2/5/2 config with a slightly narrower middle seat that they sold at a discount. My dad, in his profound cheapness, booked my family into JUST these narrow seats, with my dad, mom, and myself in three different rows. Further, for some reason, rather than flying nonstop LAX-AMS, there were technical stops in Edmonton and Winnipeg, which added time and discomfort to an already uncomfortable flight. Our next trip to Europe was on TWA, my mom drawing a line in the sand.
One new reason such arrangements are less common is that overhead bins are larger now. With only 2 seats on the side, there’s a real chance that the bins would be over the aisle, a potentially problematic situation.
A slightly narrower middle seat??! That sounds like insult piled upon insult to me… at least they sold it at a discount. Probably the perfect seat for kids! Hahaha – sounds like your Dad was good at saving money!! Horrible that technical issues meant that you spent far longer in those seats than expected. Probably a good move that you switched to real seats on subsequent trips. And you make a good point with the overhead bins, they would over and under hang in most cases due to the way things are done now. Thanks for the comment!
Asiana and Korean Air 777-200s arrived with 2-5-2 seating. Luckily my travelling companion and I had the seats on the side (2). A couple of years later they both changed seating to 3-3-3.
Interesting how it was switched over. That must have been quite a late change, as the 2-5-2 was leaving by the 1990s in a lot of places. Thanks for the comment!
Dont remind me of the days of smoking on planes. It was awful. Didnt matter where you sat the smoke would dissipate everywhere..
Yes, I would have thought it couldn’t really be confined to just the one cabin. We live in better times nowadays in that regard anyway! Thanks for the comment.
JAL has some 777-200’s arranged in an amazing 2-4-3 arrangement in economy. This feels like the best of all worlds which I’m surprised more airlines don’t replicate. Obviously, more airlines are moving towards 10-across now, but for those remaining at 9-across in economy, 2-4-3 seems like a great option.
Apparently this was also the original Boeing 747 economy class layout for some companies, 2-4-3. That would give you the best of all world’s in a lot of ways. I guess the symmetry is an issue. I’d prefer 2-4-3 on a nine abreast as it allows plenty of choices depending on your travelling party. Thanks for the comment!
I recall flying in 2-5-2 confit plane back in the 90s with my family. As an 8 year old with family of 5 it was perfect! Parents had the aisle seats and us kids were in the middle. As a kid, economy class doesn’t feel tight since we’re smaller and back then before IFE we mainly played those travel sized board games, gameboy, or the classic deck of cards.
As an adult traveling solo… I agree I wouldn’t want to be in the middle of the 5 seater in a full flight.
I think your experience says it all really, perfect for a family, so the adults can keep the kids from getting away. I suppose a family of four has pretty much the same experience today while the fives have to split up. Economy seats certainly feel spacious to a child!! Thanks for the comment!
The 1011 and DC-10 started life with 2-4-2 configurations. It was only later that they added the extra seat to become 2-5-2.
I can tell you that, no matter how much we complain about air travel these days on the major air carriers (not counting Spirit, Ryanair and the like), nothing compares to the hellscape that was sitting in the middle of a block of 5 in the smoking section on a DC-10 or 1011.
Yes, you are completely correct on that. I knew the L-1011 had 2-4-2 originally so I am not surprised the DC-10 was the same. Oh, I hadn’t considered the smoking section as well – hahaha! I can imagine that would have been pretty dire all round. Thanks for the comment!
The inside three seats sounds like a living hell to me, as do the inside two seats on a four across.
I can understand exactly where you’re coming from on that one! I wouldn’t want to be stuck there myself. Thanks for the comment!
The real reason is that 2-5-2 could also support 3-4-3 with a net gain of one seat per row or potentially 50 more passengers per flight.
Just like most 777s are 3-4-3 now compared with 3-3-3 for the first versions.
I’m not too sure about that. I know that 2-4-2 on the Boeing 787 has been moved to 3-3-3, which adds one seat per row. Every airline has done this except Japan Airlines which has kept the original, more spacious configuration. This happened with the TriStar as well, it was 2-2-console-2-2, so they removed the console and made it 2-5-2. It really depends on the aircraft. Thanks for the comment!