For the sake of argument, what would you call a seat that was not next to the aisle? I’m not defending them but at the same time I’d understand window seat just means ‘against fuselage’, yet I agree this is a confusing term.
Wall seat. It’s not hard. If window seat just means next to a wall that may have a window, it’s a still a wall seat, even if there’s a window. A window seat is always next to a window because that’s literally what defines it as a window seat.
The reality is that yes they are “against fuselage” seats which almost always means a window, but due to aircraft design, has a small chance of being up against a solid wall. They are saying that “window seat” is a descriptive term but not a guarantee because of this. I’m sure that in most cases where this has ever caused real concern, flight crews were able to reseat people to adjust or airlines compensated the aggrieved flyers or I don’t know people fucking sucked it up and moved on with their lives.
They don’t. Aisle seats sometimes cost extra due to the slight bit of extra room to wiggle around in, but window seats never do (as far as I’m aware) - because it’s not actually an advantage to sit by a window. This is a nothingburger of an article.
It was only because of airlines’ decision to change seating layouts that made it out of alignment with the aircraft’s windows to maximize capacity, and since then they have been attempting to redefine the what a window seat is.
“Outer seat” is good. Of course I think that after reading this whole article and having all the nuances in my head. Anyone who sees that term in a booking interface will not know what it means.
I’ve thought it over again after reading your comment, if airlines really wanted to weasel out of offering a window, and didn’t want to call it an ‘outer wall seat’ for clarity, they could call it a “window-side seat”, “window-adjacent seat”, or “window-end seat”. That would be like the American product saying “chocolate-flavored candy”, where it’s technically true and only misleads enough not to be afoul of the law.
Yeah, that’s closer to the mark. It’s so subtle. Can you call it a window-adjacent seat if it isn’t adjacent to a window? I’m sure a marketer somewhere can find the right weasel-word :D
For the sake of argument, what would you call a seat that was not next to the aisle? I’m not defending them but at the same time I’d understand window seat just means ‘against fuselage’, yet I agree this is a confusing term.
Wall seat. It’s not hard. If window seat just means next to a wall that may have a window, it’s a still a wall seat, even if there’s a window. A window seat is always next to a window because that’s literally what defines it as a window seat.
Cabin view.
The reality is that yes they are “against fuselage” seats which almost always means a window, but due to aircraft design, has a small chance of being up against a solid wall. They are saying that “window seat” is a descriptive term but not a guarantee because of this. I’m sure that in most cases where this has ever caused real concern, flight crews were able to reseat people to adjust or airlines compensated the aggrieved flyers or I don’t know people fucking sucked it up and moved on with their lives.
Just don’t charge extra and when customers pick a seat indicate the lack of a window. You’ll find a passenger who doesn’t care.
Exactly. That’s literally the salient point.
They don’t. Aisle seats sometimes cost extra due to the slight bit of extra room to wiggle around in, but window seats never do (as far as I’m aware) - because it’s not actually an advantage to sit by a window. This is a nothingburger of an article.
That’s a fair point!
Wall seat or outer seat, I would think.
It was only because of airlines’ decision to change seating layouts that made it out of alignment with the aircraft’s windows to maximize capacity, and since then they have been attempting to redefine the what a window seat is.
“Outer seat” is good. Of course I think that after reading this whole article and having all the nuances in my head. Anyone who sees that term in a booking interface will not know what it means.
I’ve thought it over again after reading your comment, if airlines really wanted to weasel out of offering a window, and didn’t want to call it an ‘outer wall seat’ for clarity, they could call it a “window-side seat”, “window-adjacent seat”, or “window-end seat”. That would be like the American product saying “chocolate-flavored candy”, where it’s technically true and only misleads enough not to be afoul of the law.
Yeah, that’s closer to the mark. It’s so subtle. Can you call it a window-adjacent seat if it isn’t adjacent to a window? I’m sure a marketer somewhere can find the right weasel-word :D
I’d call it bulkhead, but that term’s already used by seats in the front row of the section. Wall seating? Hullside?