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These Airlines Had the Most Empty Middle Seats in 2016

Jan. 12, 2017
•
3 min read
AA 787 economy cabin
These Airlines Had the Most Empty Middle Seats in 2016
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(Almost) no one likes being stuck in the middle seat. And, if you're traveling with family or a significant other, having an empty middle seat between you can be an ever-so-sweet victory.

Over the past few days, American Airlines, United, Southwest, Delta and JetBlue have been reporting their full-year 2016 traffic results. While many of these reports might be a bore for the average traveler, one aspect is especially interesting to see: load factors, a measurement of just how full the airlines' flights were in a given period. While we don't get flight- or route-specific data, airline load factors can give you an idea of how packed an airline's planes are in general.

So, let's dig into the numbers:

 Airline 2016 Load 2015 Load Change% Chance of Getting an

Empty Middle Seat

(in a three-seat row)
 American Airlines
81.7%
83.0%
-1.3%
54.9%
 United
82.9%
83.4%
-0.5%
51.3%
 Southwest
84.0%
83.6%
0.4%
48.0%
 Delta
84.6%
84.9%
-0.3%
46.2%
 JetBlue
85.1%
84.7%
0.4%
44.7%

If you're looking for less-full flights, American Airlines is the way to go since the carrier ended up last among the top five US carriers in every released metric: Overall, Regional, Mainline, Domestic and International. While the difference between 81.7% and 85.1% doesn't seem to be that big, when you consider how many flights these airlines are operating, that's a lot of empty middle seats!

When it comes to regional flights, American Airlines flights were even emptier. During 2016, the airline's regional flights were just 77.2% full on average. Unfortunately, these are the aircraft were there are rarely any middle seats anyway. But, on four-across planes, it means you had almost a 50/50 chance of having a whole mini-row to yourself. Meanwhile, your chances were much lower on United's regional flights, which were 83.5% full in 2016, on average. For international flights, AA's averaged out at just 78% full, while Delta filled the most seats, averaging 83.4% load.

Bottom Line

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While you can employ some desperate measures in an effort to get an empty seat next to you on Southwest, there's no guaranteed way of making sure you'll end up with an empty middle seat. However, little hacks like flying during off-peak times and on generally-emptier carriers — like American Airlines — will help increase your chances.

Are there any routes you've flown that are always empty (or full)? Tell us about them, below.

Featured image by JT Genter

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  • $100 Resy Credit: Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year after you pay with the American Express® Gold Card to dine at U.S. Resy restaurants or make other eligible Resy purchases. That's up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
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  • Explore over 1,000 upscale hotels worldwide with The Hotel Collection and receive a $100 credit towards eligible charges* with every booking of two nights or more through AmexTravel.com. *Eligible charges vary by property.
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