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Bulkhead Seating: The Pros & Cons [Includes Airline Guide]

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On every aircraft worldwide, there are seats located against a bulkhead — a wall dividing either crew areas, galleys, or other classes of service on the plane. These seats can be coveted for some flyers, providing extra legroom, and, in some cases, extra service. For others, these seats are a dreaded assignment with less legroom and no room to stretch out.

Whatever your opinion, bulkhead seats on carriers worldwide offer a variety of pros and cons, and there’s no doubt that a bulkhead seat selection opportunity will come your way if you fly with any bit of regularity, so it’s important to understand the differences in these seats.

What Is a Bulkhead Seat?

A bulkhead seat can be located in several areas of an aircraft. Usually, these seats immediately face a fixed wall, dividing the seats from something else in the cabin. On nearly every aircraft, there are seats in the forward-most part of the plane, facing the wall at the entry door and forward galley. On bigger aircraft, there can be even more bulkhead walls, usually dividing classes of service (such as between first class and economy class), or in front of restrooms mid-cabin.

Qantas Boeing 747 Premium Economy Bulkhead Legroom
Bulkhead seats are often situated directly behind a wall. Image Credit: Greg Stone

The Pros of Bulkhead Seats

When you’re seated next to a bulkhead, there are a number of pros that will entice you to want to sit in these seats:

Extra Legroom

Because a bulkhead is a fixed wall, there’s often an additional amount of legroom between the seat and the wall, allowing the passengers to stretch out, without being constricted by a wall, reducing the area for feet.

Hawaiian Airlines First Class Bulkhead
This Hawaiian Airlines bulkhead seating in first class features more room for your knees as they don’t touch any seat in front. Image Credit: James Larounis

Priority Boarding

Depending on the airline, bulkhead seats will often come with priority boarding, allowing you to board before most other passengers.

Ease of Deplaning

For bulkhead seats in the front of the plane (the first row on a narrowbody aircraft), you’ll be among the first passengers to deplane, allowing you to exit into the terminal and be on your way.

Easier Access

For passengers who need to get up mid-flight, it’s much easier to get into the aisleway from a bulkhead middle or window seat than it is in other rows. Sitting in a bulkhead seat allows you to stay seated, in most cases, while your fellow seatmates can get up with ease.

First Chance for Service

Since bulkhead seats tend to be located in the front part of the cabin, these seats often will get their first choice of beverages, snacks, and meals. Keep in mind, though, that on larger planes, there may be multiple bulkhead seats scattered throughout the plane, so in these instances, not all bulkhead seats are created equal when it comes to service.

Easier to Sleep

If you’re someone who can’t sleep with the lights on, sitting in a bulkhead seat is perfect for you. If there is a solid wall in front of you, it will help reduce the amount of light shining in your eyes. If you’re seated farther back, you can be distracted by overhead reading lights, which simply aren’t visible when seated behind a wall.

No Recline From the Seat in Front

Since you’re situated behind a wall, one of the great things about being at a bulkhead is the fact that you don’t have to worry about a seat in front of you reclining. If you’re someone who likes to work on their laptop, you’ll be especially appreciative of this feature since you won’t have to tilt your screen to avoid any accidents.

Bottom Line: When you choose an extra legroom seat, you may be among the first to board the aircraft, among the first to receive onboard service, and don’t have to worry about a seat in front of you reclining into your space.

The Cons of Bulkhead Seats

There are some downsides to sitting in a bulkhead seat:

Need To Stow Baggage

Whenever you’re seated in a bulkhead seat, you’re required to store any luggage in the overhead bin. No bags are allowed to be placed by the bulkhead, so you won’t be able to easily access these items without getting up and rummaging through the overhead bin. If you’re the type of person who likes to access their bag throughout the flight, a bulkhead seat is not for you.

Paid Seats

Depending on the airline, bulkhead seats often cost extra to sit in. While some airlines may offer these seats to elite passengers as a benefit of a loyalty program, these bulkhead seats often come with a price tag for normal passengers. On longer routes, these can be into the several hundreds of dollars, making these seats a pretty expensive buy depending on how long the flight is.

Tray Tables

In bulkhead seats, the tray tables often are stored within the armrest, decreasing seat width slightly. Rather than having an armrest with open space underneath, the armrest is usually a solid fixed side which could be uncomfortable for certain passengers, especially those that are are larger in size.

Fiji Airways Airbus A350 Economy Class Bula Space Seats
Bulkhead seats store the tray table in the fixed armrest, and the resulting narrowing of the seat may be uncomfortable for some passengers. Image Credit: Greg Stone

Inflight Entertainment Storage

On aircraft with inflight entertainment screens, bulkhead seats will often feature these screens stowed within the armrest, which must be latched for takeoff and landing. Traditional non-bulkhead seats usually have these screens on the seatbacks in front of them, but bulkhead seats have to put these screens away during key phases of flight, forcing these passengers to miss out on movie time or getting their shows cut short. If you like to watch your movies from start to finish, bulkhead seats may not be for you.

Bassinet Seats

On some airlines, the bassinet (baby bed) is stored within a bulkhead. If you’re someone who doesn’t want to be around a crying child, you may want to sit as far away from these bassinet storage locations as possible.

Limited Legroom

Depending on the bulkhead seat you choose, you could have restrictive legroom thanks to the wall in front of you. Some bulkhead seats are designed where you can stretch out, but unlike traditional seats where there is nothing under the seat ahead of you, bulkhead seats typically have a wall, where it’s impossible to stretch your legs out fully. This will depend on how the airline has configured the aircraft, but it’s worth noting that bulkhead seats can have great legroom or miserable legroom.

Bottom Line: The main cons of bulkhead seating include the potential for limited legroom and the fact that all of your bags need to be stowed for taxi, takeoff, and landing.

Seat Numbers

We’ve compiled together a comprehensive list of all of the bulkhead seating options on every aircraft of most major carriers, thanks to seating charts from SeatGuru. Use these charts to help locate the aircraft you’ll be flying, the class of service you’re in, and the seats that typically qualify as a bulkhead seat. Remember, these seats may be located behind a wall, or may simply be at the dividing point between different sections of the plane.

To help clarify, let’s look below at the first class and business class cabin of an American Airlines Boeing 777-300ER. The black arrows indicate the walls separating the first class cabin from the galley, the forward business cabin from first class, and the rear business class cabin from the galley. These are bulkheads, and the seats immediately adjacent to these walls are bulkhead seats.

Seat Guru Bulkhead Map with Arrows
Image Credit: SeatGuru

SeatGuru uses a color-coding system to help clarify which seats are preferable to sit in, which red seats being ones you want to avoid, yellow ones being seats that are okay but may have some sort of issue, and green seats being the ones that are ideal. White seats are standard seats with no major flaws or preferences. While on the SeatGuru site, hover over the seat you are interested in for commentary on the seat and any potential issues.

Air Canada

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Air France

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Aircraft Type

Class of Service

Row Number

Seat Number

Airbus A318 (318)

Business

1

D, E, F

 

 

2

A, B, C

Airbus A319 (319) Layout 1

Business

1

A, C, D, F

 

Economy

8

A, B, C, D, E, F

Airbus A319 (319) Layout 2

Economy

1

A, B, C, D, E, F

Airbus A320 (320) Caribbean

Economy

1

A, B, C

 

 

2

D, E, F

Airbus A320 (320) Layout 1

Business

1

A, C

 

 

2

D, F

 

Economy

8

A, B, C, D, E, F

Airbus A320 (320) Layout 2

Business

1

A, C, D, F

 

Economy

9

A, B, C, D, E, F

Airbus A320 (320) Layout 3

Economy

1

D, E, F

 

 

2

A, B, C

Airbus A321 (321) Layout 1

Business

1

A, C, D, F

Airbus A321 (321) Layout 2

Economy

1

A, B, C, D, E, F

Airbus A330-200 (332) Layout 1

Business

1

E, F, J, K

 

 

2

A, B

 

 

5

A, B, E, F, J, K

 

Premium Economy

19

A, B, D, E, F, J, K

 

Economy

23

A, B, D, E, F, J, K

 

 

29

A, B, D, E, F, G, J, K

Airbus A330-200 (332) Layout 2

Business

1

A, C, D, H, J, L

 

 

5

A, C, D, H, J, L

 

Premium Economy

19

A, C, D, E, H, J, L

 

Economy

23

A, C, D, E, G, H, J, L

Airbus A340-300 (343)

Business

1

E, F, J, K

 

 

2

A, B

 

Premium Economy

14

A, B, D, E, F, J, K

 

Economy

18

A, B, D, E, F, J, K

 

 

33

A, B, D, E, F, G, J, K

Airbus A350-900 (359)

Business

1

C, E, F, J

 

Premium Economy

10

A, C, D, E, G, H, J, L

 

Economy

16

A, B, C, D, E, H, J, K, L

Airbus A380-800 (380)

La Premiere

2

E, F, L

 

Economy

15

D, E, F, G

 

 

45

A, B, C, E, F, G, H, J, K, L

ATR 42-500 (AT5)

Economy

1

D, F

ATR 72-500 (AT7)

Economy

N/A

No Bulkhead Seats

ATR 72-600 (ATR)

Economy

N/A

No Bulkhead Seats

Boeing 777-200ER (772) 3 Class Layout 1

Business

1

A, B, E, F, G, K, L

 

Premium Economy

10

A, B, E, F, G, H, K, L

 

Economy

19

A, B, E, F, G, H, K, L

 

 

36

E, F, G, H

Boeing 777-200ER (772) 3 Class Layout 2

Business

1

A, E, F, L

 

 

10

A, E, F, L

 

Premium Economy

19

A, B, E, F, G, H, K, L

 

Economy

23

A, B, E, F, G, H, K, L

 

 

35

A, B, C, E, F, G, H, J, K, L

Boeing 777-200ER (772) 3 Class Layout 3

Business

1

A, E, F, L

 

Premium Economy

10

A, B, E, F, G, H, K, L

 

Economy

16

A, B, E, F, G, H, K, L

 

 

36

E, F, G, H, J, K, L

Boeing 777-200ER (772) 3 Class Layout 4

Business

1

A, E, F, L

 

Economy

7

A, B, E, F, G, H, K, L

 

 

12

A, B, E, F, G, H, K, L

 

Premium Economy

19

A, B, E, F, G, H, K, L

 

Economy

23

A, B, E, F, G, H, K, L

 

 

36

E, F, G, H

Boeing 777-300ER (77W) Caribbean

Business

1

A, B, E, F, G, K, L

 

Premium Economy

5

A, B, E, F, G, H, K, L

 

Economy

10

A, B, C, E, F, G, H, J, K, L

 

 

30

A, B, C, J, K, L

 

 

32

E, F, G, H

 

 

45

E, F, G, H

Boeing 777-300ER (77W) 3 Class

Business

1

A, B, E, F, G, K, L

 

 

5

A, B, E, F, G, K, L

 

Premium Economy

14

A, B, E, F, G, H, K, L

 

Economy

18

A, B, E, F, G, H, K, L

 

 

43

E, F, G, H

Boeing 777-300ER (77W) 4 Class Layout 1

La Premiere

1

A, E, F, L

 

Business

3

A, E, F, L

 

 

9

A, L

 

 

10

E, F

 

Premium Economy

23

A, B, K, L

 

 

24

E, F, G, H,

 

Economy

28

A, B, E, F, G, H, K, L

 

 

39

A, B, C, E, F, G, H, J, K, L

Boeing 777-300ER (77W) 4 Class Layout 2

La Premiere

1

A, E, F, L

 

Business

3

A, E, F, L

 

 

9

A, E, F, L

 

Seat Plus

18

A, B, E, F, G, H, K, L

 

Premium Economy

24

E, F, G, H

 

Economy

28

A, B, E, F, G, H, K, L

Boeing 787-9 (789)

Business

1

A, L

 

Premium Economy

10

A, B, D, E, G, J, K

 

Economy

15

A, B, C, D, E, G, H, J, K

 

 

30

A, B, C, D, E, G, H, J, K

Bombardier CRJ-700

Economy

1

A, C, D, F

Bombardier CRJ-1000

Economy

1

A, C, D, F

Embraer E-170

Business

1

A, C, D, F

Embraer E-190

Business

1

A, C, D, F

Embraer ERJ-145

Economy

1

A

 

 

3

D, F

RJ-85 Avroliner (AR8)

Economy

1

A, C

Air New Zealand

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Aircraft Type

Class of Service

Row Number

Seat Number

Airbus A320 (320) Domestic

Space +

1

A, B, C

 

 

2

D, E, F

Airbus A320 (320) International

Economy

1

A, B, C, D, E, F

Airbus A320neo (320)

Economy

1

D, E, F

 

 

2

A, B, C

Airbus A321neo (321)

Economy

1

A, B, C, D, E, F

ATR 72-500

Economy

N/A

No Bulkhead Seats

Boeing 777-200ER (772)

Business

1

B, J

 

Premium Economy

23

A, B, D, E, F, G, J, K

 

Economy

35

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K

 

 

48

D, E, F, G

Boeing 777-300 (773)

Business Premier

1

A, B, J, K

 

 

9

A, B, J, K

 

Premium Economy

23

A, B, D, E, F, G, J, K

 

 

35

D, E, F, G

Boeing 787-9 (789) Layout 1

Business Premier

1

A, J, K

 

Premium Economy

23

A, B, D, E, F, J, K

 

Economy

35

A, B, C, D, E, F, J, K

 

 

52

D, E, F

Boeing 787-9 (789) Layout 2

Business Premier

1

A, J, K

 

Premium Economy

23

D, E, F, J, K

 

Economy

35

A, B, D, E, F, H, J, K

 

 

48

D, E, F

Bombardier Q300

Economy

N/A

No Bulkhead Seats

Alaska Airlines

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Aircraft Type

Class of Service

Row Number

Seat Number

Airbus A319 (319) Layout 1

First

1

A, C, D, F

 

Premium

3

A, B, C, D, E, F

Airbus A319 (319) Layout 2

First

1

A, C, D, F

 

Premium

6

A, B, C, D, E, F

Airbus A320 Layout 1

First

1

A, C, D, F

 

Premium

3

A, B, C, D, E, F

Airbus A320 Layout 2

First

1

A, C, D, F

 

Premium

3

A, B, C, D, E, F

Airbus A320 Layout 3

First

1

A, C, D, F

 

Premium

6

A, B, C, D, E, F

Airbus A321 (321)

First

1

A, C, D, F

 

Premium

6

A, B, C, D, E, F

Boeing 737-700 (737)

First

1

A, C, D, F

 

Premium

6

A, B, C, D, E, F

Boeing 737-800 (738)

First

1

A, C, D, F

 

Premium

6

A, B, C, D, E, F

Boeing 737-900 (739)

First

1

A, C, D, F

 

Premium

6

A, B, C, D, E, F

Bombardier Q400

Economy

N/A

No Bulkhead Seats

Embraer 175 (E75)

First

1

A, C, D

 

Premium

6

A, B, C, D

American Airlines

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Aircraft Type

Class of Service

Row Number

Seat Number

Airbus A319 (319)

First

1

A, C, D, F

 

Main Cabin Extra

8

A, B, C, D, E, F

Airbus A320 (320)

First

1

A, C, D, F

 

Main Cabin

4

A, B, C, D, E, F

Airbus A321 (321) Layout 1

First

1

A, C, D, F

 

Main Cabin Extra

5

A, B, C, D, E, F

Airbus A321 (321) Layout 2

First

1

A, C, D, F

 

Main Cabin

5

A, B, C, D, E, F

Airbus A321 (32B) Layout 3

First

1

A, F

 

Business

6

A, C, D, F

Airbus A321neo ACF

First

1

A, C, D, F

Airbus A330-200 (332)

First

1

A, C, F, H

 

Premium Economy

6

A, B, C, D, F, G, H

 

Main Cabin

9

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H

Boeing 737-800 (738) Layout 1

First

3

A, B, E, F

 

Main Cabin Extra

7

A, B, C, D, E, F

Boeing 737-800 (738) Layout 2

First

1

A, C, D, F

 

Main Cabin Extra

8

A, B, C, D, E, F

 

Main Cabin

11

A, B, C, D, E, F

Boeing 737 MAX 8 (7M8)

First

1

A, B, E, F

 

Main Cabin Extra

8

A, B, C, D, E, F

Boeing 777-200 (777)

Business

1

A, D, H, L

 

 

7

A, D, H, L

 

Premium Economy

13

A, C, D, E, G, H, J, L

 

Main Cabin Extra

17

A, B, D, E, G, H, J, L

 

 

26

A, B, C, D, E, G, H, J, K, L

Boeing 777-300ER (77W)

First

1

A, D, G, J

 

Business

3

A, D, G, J

 

 

5

A, D, G, J

 

Premium Economy

16

A, C, D, E, G, H, J, L

 

Main Cabin

20

A, B, D, E, G, H, K, L

 

 

31

A, C, J, L

Boeing 787-8 (788)

Business

1

A, D, H, L

 

Premium Economy

6

A, C, D, E, H, J, L

 

Main Cabin Extra

10

A, B, C, D, E, H, J, K, L

 

Main Cabin

20

A, B, C, D, E, H, J, K, L

Boeing 787-9 (789)

Business

1

A, D, H, L

 

Premium Economy

9

A, C, D, E, H, J, L

 

Main Cabin Extra

12

A, B, C, D, E, H, J, K, L

 

Main Cabin

24

A, B, C, D, E, H, J, K, L

Bombardier CRJ-700 (CR7) Layout 1

First

1

A, C, D

Bombardier CRJ-700 (CR7) Layout 2

First

1

A, C, D

 

Main Cabin Extra

8

A, B, C, D

Bombardier CRJ-700 (CR7) Layout 3

First

1

A

Bombardier CRJ-700 (CR7) Layout 4

First

1

A, C, D

Bombardier CRJ-900 (CR9) Layout 1

First

1

A, D, F

 

Main Cabin

8

A, C, D, F

Bombardier CRJ-900 (CR9) Layout 2

First

1

D, F

 

Main Cabin

4

A, C, D, F

Bombardier CRJ-900 (CR9) Layout 3

First

1

A, D, F

 

Main Cabin Extra

4

A, D, F

Embraer ERJ-140 (ERD)

Main Cabin

3

B, C

Embraer ERJ-145 (ER4)

Main Cabin

3

B, C

Embraer ERJ-175 (E75) Layout 1

First

1

A, D, F

 

Main Cabin Extra

8

A, C, D, F

Embraer ERJ-175 (E75) Layout 2

First

1

D, F

 

Main Cabin

4

A, C, D, F

British Airways

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Aircraft Type

Class of Service

Row Number

Seat Number

Airbus A318 (318)

Club World

1

A, B, J, K

Airbus A319 (319) Domestic Layout 1

U.K. Domestic

1

A, B, C, D, E, F

Airbus A319 (319) Domestic Layout 2

U.K. Domestic

1

A, B, C, D, E, F

Airbus A319 (319) Domestic Layout 3

U.K. Domestic

1

A, B, C, D, E, F

Airbus A319 (319) European

Club Europe

1

A, C, D, F

Airbus A320 (320) Domestic Layout 1

U.K. Domestic

1

A, B, C, D, E, F

Airbus A320 (320) Domestic Layout 2

U.K. Domestic

1

A, B, C

 

 

2

D, E, F

Airbus A320 (320) European

Club Europe

1

A, C, D, F

Airbus A321 (321) Domestic

U.K. Domestic

1

A, B, C, D, E, F

Airbus A321 (321) European

Club Europe

1

A, C, D, F

Airbus A321 (321) International

Club World

1

A, D, F

 

 

9

A, B, C, D, E, F

Airbus A321neo (321) Layout 1

Club Europe

1

A, C, D, F

 

Euro Traveler

6

A, B, C, D, E, F

Airbus A321neo (321) Layout 2

Club Europe

1

A, C, D, F

Airbus A350-1000 (351)

Club World

1

A, E, F, K

 

 

15

A, E, F, K

 

World Traveler Plus

20

A, B, D, E, F, G, J, K

 

World Traveler

30

A, B, D ,E, F, J, K

 

 

40

D, E, F

Airbus A380-800 (388)

Club World

10

A, B, D, E, F, G, J, K

 

World Traveler

35

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K

Boeing 747-400 (744) Layout 1

First

1

A, K

 

World Traveler Plus

11

J, K

 

 

12

A, B, D, E, F, G

 

Club World

17

A, B, D, E, F, G, J, K

 

World Traveler

28

B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J

 

 

39

H, J, K

 

 

40

A, B, C, D, E, F, G

Boeing 747-400 (744) Layout 2

First

1

A, K

 

Club World

12

J, K

 

 

13

A, B, D, E, F, G,

 

 

17

A, B, D, E, F, G, J, K

 

World Traveler Plus

33

A, B, D, E, F, G, J, K

 

World Traveler

39

H, J, K

 

 

40

A, B, C, D, E, F, G

Boeing 777-200 (772) 4 Class

First

1

A, E, F, K

 

Club World

10

A, B, D, E, F, G, J, K

 

World Traveler Plus

21

A, B, D, E, F, G, J, K

Boeing 777-200 (772) Gatwick 3 Class

Club World

1

A, B, D, E, F, G, J, K

 

World Traveler Plus

10

A, B, D, E, F, G, J, K

 

World Traveler

20

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K

Boeing 777-200 (772) 3 Class Layout 1

Club World

1

D, E, F, G

 

 

2

A, B, J, K

 

 

10

A, B, D, E, F, G, J, K

 

World Traveler Plus

12

A, B, D, E, F, G, J, K

 

World Traveler

15

A, B, D, E, F, J, K

Boeing 777-200 (772) 3 Class Layout 2

Club World

1

D, E, F, G

 

 

2

A, B, D, J, K

 

 

10

A, B, D, E, F, G, J, K

 

World Traveler Plus

12

A, B, D, E, F, G, J, K

 

World Traveler

15

A, B, D, E, F, J, K

 

 

26

D, E, F

Boeing 777-200 (772) 3 Class Layout 3

Club World

1

A, B, D, E, F, G, J, K

 

World Traveler Plus

10

A, B, D, E, F, G, J, K

 

World Traveler

20

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K

Boeing 777-300 (773)

First

1

A, E, F, K

 

Club World

10

A, B, D, E, F, G, J, K

 

World Traveler Plus

21

D, E, F, G

 

World Traveler

28

A, B, D, E, F, J, K

 

 

37

D, E, F

Boeing 787-8 (788)

Club World

1

A, B, D, E, F, J, K

 

 

6

A, B, D, E, F, J, K

 

World Traveler Plus

10

A, B, D, E, F, J, K

 

Economy

20

A, B, C, D, E, F, H, J, K

Boeing 787-9 (789)

First

1

A, E, F, K

 

Club World

10

A, B, D, E, F, J, K

 

World Traveler Plus

16

A, B, D, E, F, J, K

 

Euro Traveler

6

A, B, C, D, E, F

Boeing 787-10 (781)

First

1

A, E, F, K

 

Club World

5

A, E, F, K

 

 

12

A, E, F, K

 

World Traveler Plus

20

A, B, D, E, F, J, K

Embraer E-170 U.K. Domestic

U.K. Domestic

1

A, B, C, D

Embraer E-190 European

Club Europe

1

A, B

 

 

 

C, D

Embraer E-190 U.K. Domestic

U.K. Domestic

1

A, B

 

 

 

C, D

Cathay Pacific

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Delta Air Lines

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Aircraft Type

Class of Service

Row Number

Seat Number

Airbus A330-200 (332)

Delta One

1

C, G

 

 

2

A, J

 

 

7

A, C, G, J

 

Delta Comfort+

10

A, B, C, D, F, G, H, J

Airbus A330-300 (333)

Delta One

1

C, G

 

 

2

A, J

 

Delta Comfort+

10

A, B, C, D, F, G, H, J

Airbus A330-900neo (339)

Delta One

1

A, C, G, J

 

Delta Premium

20

A, B, C, D, G, H, J

 

Delta Comfort+

30

A, B, C, D, F, G, H, J

 

Economy

42

C, D, F, G

Airbus A350-900 (359)

Delta One

1

B, C

 

 

2

A, D

 

Delta Premium Select

20

A, B, D, E, F, G, H, J

 

Economy

30

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J

Boeing 767-300ER (76T/76W) Layout 1

Delta One

1

B, C

 

 

1

A, D

 

Delta Comfort+

17

A, B, C, D, E, F, G

 

Economy

22

C, D, E

Boeing 767-300ER (76L) Layout 2

Delta One

1

A, B, C, D

 

Delta Comfort+

16

C, D, E

 

 

17

A, B, F, G

 

Economy

22

C, D, E

Boeing 767-300ER (76H/76Z) Layout 3

Delta One

1

A, B, C, D

 

Delta Comfort+

13

A, B, C, D, E, F, G

Boeing 767-300ER (76Z) Layout 4

Delta One

1

A, B, C, D

Boeing 767-400ER (76D) Layout 1

Delta One

1

A, B, C, D

 

Delta Comfort+

15

A, B, C, D, E, F, G

 

 

30

C, D, E

Boeing 767-400ER (764) Layout 2

Delta One

1

A, B, C, D

 

Delta Premium Select

20

A, B, C, D, F, G

 

Delta Comfort+

30

A, B, C, D, E, F, G

Boeing 777-200ER/LR (7CB) Layout 1

Delta One

1

A, D

 

Delta Premium

20

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H

 

Delta Comfort+

30

A, B, H, J

Boeing 777-200ER/LR (7HD) Layout 2

Delta One

1

A, D

 

Delta Premium Select

20

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H

Emirates

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Aircraft Type

Class of Service

Row Number

Seat Number

Airbus A380-800 (388) 3 Class Layout 1

Economy

43

A, B, C, H, J, K

 

 

45

D, E, F, G

Airbus A380-800 (388) 3 Class Layout 2

Economy

41

A, B, C, H, J, K

Airbus A380-800 (388) 2 Class

 

N/A

No information available

Boeing 777-200LR (772) 3 Class

Business

6

A, B, D, E, F, J, K

 

Economy

17

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K

Boeing 777-300ER (77W) 3 Class Layout 1

Economy

17

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K

Boeing 777-300ER (77W) 3 Class Layout 2

First Class

1

A, E, F, K

 

Business

6

A, B, D, E, F, J, K

 

 

8

A, K

 

Economy

17

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K

 

 

38

D, E, F, G

Boeing 777-300ER (77W) 2 Class

Business

1

A, B, D, E, F, J, K

 

 

6

A, B, D, E, F, J, K

 

Economy

8

A, B, C, H, J, K

 

 

9

D, E, F, G

 

 

37

D, E, F, G

Etihad

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Frontier

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Hawaiian

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Japan Airlines

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JetBlue

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KLM

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Lufthansa

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Qantas

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Southwest

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Spirit

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United

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Final Thoughts

Bulkhead seats definitely have their pros and cons, and if you fly enough, you either love or hate these seats. While bulkhead seats can have extra legroom and bulkhead passengers are the first ones to be served on board, you always need to stow your bags and your inflight entertainment.

For many flyers, these seats are coveted, while other flyers avoid them like the plague. Whatever preference you have, it’s important to understand the differences in these seats so you can make a more informed decision the next time you need to select a seat when flying a major airline.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are bulkhead seats good?

Depending on who you ask, bulkhead seats can be either good or bad. In general, most people view these seats favorably since they have additional legroom and there isn’t any potential for a person in front to recline.

Are bulkhead seats more expensive?

Usually, airlines will charge a premium for bulkhead seats, since they’re usually considered some of the most desirable seats on the plane. Most airlines either charge extra for these seats or reserve them for certain elite passengers.

What are bulkhead seats on American Airlines?

Bulkhead seats on American Airlines are directly behind a wall or curtain. On all narrow-body aircraft, the first row of first class is considered bulkhead seats. On larger aircraft, there may be multiple rows of bulkhead seats since there are additional lavatories and galleys that create additional walls.

Is preferred seating worth it?

Depending on how long the flight is, you may find it worth it to select a preferred seat, which is usually a seat with extra legroom or a better location on the plane. These seats are more desirable and usually come at an additional cost when purchasing your ticket.

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About James Larounis

James (Jamie) started The Forward Cabin blog to educate readers about points, miles, and loyalty programs. He’s spoken at Princeton University and The New York Times Travel Show and has been quoted in dozens of travel publications.

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