Cruising Altitude is a weekly column about air travel. Have a suggestion for a future topic? Fill out the form or email me at the address at the bottom of this page.
Not all airplane seats are created equal, and passengers should remember that just because they have a ticket for a flight, they can't just sit wherever they want – even Southwest is doing away with open seating.
It can be frustrating, but just because a seat is open on a plane doesn't mean it's necessarily available to you specifically. It may be a premium seat that you have to pay extra for, it may be out of service for some reason, or there could be another safety reason that you're not supposed to sit there.
I get that it’s annoying to see seats go unused on a flight when you’re elbow to elbow with your seat neighbor, but there are good reasons for policies around keeping passengers where they are, and it’s not (just) about maximizing their profits.
Here’s why it’s not so bad to stay put on your flight, and why – if you’re going to move – you should always ask first:
