Whatever happened to 2-5-2 economy seating on flights?

The Flight Detective
an airplane with many seats

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.

For those on flights that aren’t particularly busy, there is a lovely secret thing for the lucky few. Snag an empty block, flip up the arm rests and you have five (count ’em!) seats to lay down flat in. A comfortable sleep is virtually assured in a situation like that!

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!

The other reason is apparently the inflight entertainment system boxes can only serve a maximum of three seats at a time. This plus that middle seat encouraged airlines to move away from 2-5-2.

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.

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Greg

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.

Jason

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.

Joey

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.

Bandmeeting

The inside three seats sounds like a living hell to me, as do the inside two seats on a four across.

Azamaraal

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.

[…] Update featured a post by The Flight Detective about how the 2-5-2 flight configuration disappeared and possible reasons why. While you can no longer fly with a section of 5 seats in the middle, […]

mallthus

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… Read more »

Judge G

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.

David Ogilvie

Dont remind me of the days of smoking on planes. It was awful. Didnt matter where you sat the smoke would dissipate everywhere..

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