--- title: This is Why Airplane Seats Don't Line Up With Windows description: It's the airline's choice to make. canonical: https://time.com/4725611/why-dont-airplane-seats-line-up/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-05T20:16:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:57:48.648Z og:title: This is Why Airplane Seats Don't Line Up With Windows og:description: The reason may surprise you og:url: https://time.com/4725611/why-dont-airplane-seats-line-up/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta05575c7787c27e1/6988c1474dd2154215efe639/gettyimages-88299852-2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Airplane interior og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This is Why Airplane Seats Don't Line Up With Windows twitter:description: The reason may surprise you twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta05575c7787c27e1/6988c1474dd2154215efe639/gettyimages-88299852-2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This is Why Airplane Seats Don't Line Up With Windows ## Video: Why Airplanes Experience Turbulence [Watch (HLS stream): Why Airplanes Experience Turbulence](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/HHa36YTr.m3u8) (0:56)  _Published 2016-08-12. News that 24 were hospitalised following a JetBlue flight proves that turbulence can be far more serious than just a few airborne bumps_ by [Erika Owen / Travel + Leisure](https://time.com/author/travel-leisure/) ## Erika Owen / Travel + Leisure Apr 5, 2017 8:16 PM UTC  Airplane interior Airplane interiorGetty Images by [Erika Owen / Travel + Leisure](https://time.com/author/travel-leisure/) ## Erika Owen / Travel + Leisure Apr 5, 2017 8:16 PM UTC When you’re confined to one seat for 10 hours, there are a lot of things you start to notice, like those [tiny hole at the bottom of airplane windows](http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/airplane-window-hole) or how turbulence [seems to have gotten worse](http://www.travelandleisure.com/blogs/trip-doctor-air-turbulence-set-to-increase-by-2050). Here’s another one for you: [airplane windows](http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/why-are-airplane-windows-round) don’t always [match up with the rows of seats](http://www.thrillist.com/news/nation/why-dont-airplane-windows-line-up-with-the-seats). Here’s why. \[compare\_card\] [Today I Found Out](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC64UiPJwM%5Fe9AqAd7RiD7JA), a YouTube channel that exposes overlooked oddities, shared a video digging into the logic behind airplane seat and window alignment. The short answer: the seats are not placed with any real regard to where the windows are. The airlines themselves actually have complete control over how many rows of seats are inside the cabin, and how they are positioned. And, as you can imagine, their goals are fitting as many people into seats as possible—not setting a scenic stage for your in-flight Instagrams. _This_ [_article_](http://www.travelandleisure.com/airlines-airports/airplane-seats-dont-line-up-with-windows) _originally appeared_ [_TravelandLeisure.com_](http://Travelandleisure.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4725611/why-dont-airplane-seats-line-up/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4725611/why-dont-airplane-seats-line-up/"},"headline":"This is Why Airplane Seats Don't Line Up With Windows","datePublished":"2017-04-05T20:16:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:57:48.648Z","description":"The reason won't surprise you","url":"https://time.com/4725611/why-dont-airplane-seats-line-up/","keywords":["Living","Travel","onetime","Evergreen"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta05575c7787c27e1/6988c1474dd2154215efe639/gettyimages-88299852-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Erika Owen / Travel + Leisure"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta05575c7787c27e1/6988c1474dd2154215efe639/gettyimages-88299852-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Airplane interior","caption":"Airplane interior","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4725611/why-dont-airplane-seats-line-up/","name":"This is Why Airplane Seats Don't Line Up With Windows"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Why Airplanes Experience Turbulence","description":"News that 24 were hospitalised following a JetBlue flight proves that turbulence can be far more serious than just a few airborne bumps","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/HHa36YTr/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-08-12T18:12:30.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/HHa36YTr.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4725611/why-dont-airplane-seats-line-up/","duration":"PT56S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4725611/why-dont-airplane-seats-line-up/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```