The ultimate guide to airlines flying rear-facing seats
There's a certain thrill to flying in a rear-facing seat.
In 2019, I flew an American Airlines Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner from Chicago to Dallas and actually enjoyed my experience flying backward.
However, there are a dwindling number of airlines offering this unique seating arrangement. What follows are the airlines currently featuring rear-facing seats on their wide-body aircraft, including cabin layouts.
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American Airlines
American Airlines offers rear-facing business-class seats on select Boeing 777-200s and Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners. Unfortunately, the fleet types are mixed — meaning that you won't know until just a few days before departure which configuration your plane will feature. Be sure to check the seat map in the days and hours before your flight to double-check.
These planes primarily fly long-haul routes, but in recent months, AA has scheduled wide-body flights on short domestic hops.
Aircraft and Cabin Configuration
- Boeing 777-200 — 37 seats in the business-class cabin, roughly half of which face backward
- Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner — 20 seats in the business-class cabin, roughly half of which face backward
Related: Best American Airlines seats ranked from best to worst
Britsh Airways
In the years leading up to the pandemic, every British Airways wide-body plane featured both forward- and rear-facing seats in Club World business class.
Recently, the carrier has taken delivery of new Airbus A350s and Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners and retrofitted some Boeing 777s with forward-facing, direct-aisle-access pods — a noticeable step up from the legacy Club World product.
However, unless you're flying one of the select routes with a new BA plane, odds are you'll see rear-facing seats in business class.
Aircraft and Cabin Configuration
British Airways has rear-facing seats in the business-class cabins on the following planes:
- Airbus A380 — 2-4-2 on the main deck; 2-3-2 on the upper deck, where there are eight additional rows of business class
- Boeing 777-200 — 2-4-2 (note some 772s have been retrofitted with the new Club Suite)
- Boeing 777-300 — 2-4-2 configuration
- Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner — 2-3-2 configuration
- Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner — 2-3-2 configuration
British Airways' Club World cabins tend to be laid out in a 2-4-2 or 2-3-2 configuration. In those two-seat sections on the sides, the seat next to the window faces backward. In the middle section of four seats, it is the middle two seats that face backward.
Related: How to fly BA's new Club Suite
Etihad
Etihad operates rear-facing seats in both its business and first-class cabins aboard the following aircraft:
Aircraft and Cabin Configuration
- Airbus A380 — This aircraft is Etihad's flagship, though there are rumors it may get retired due to the pandemic. It sports eight first-class "Apartments" arranged in a 1-1 configuration, with seats alternating between forward- and rear-facing. The rest of the upper deck is outfitted with business class pods in a 1-2-1 configuration, with half the seats facing forward, and the other half facing backward.
- Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner — In first class, there are just eight suites spread across two rows in an alternating 1-2-1 configuration. Business class also alternates between forward- and rear-facing pods in a 1-2-1 configuration.
- Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner — Etihad's longer -10 Dreamliner doesn't feature a first-class cabin, but biz is arranged in a similar 1-2-1 configuration as the -9 Dreamliner.
Qatar
Historically, rear-facing business-class seats meant that you'd be sitting next to your neighbor without direct access to the aisle.
However, when Qatar introduced Qsuite in 2017, the Doha-based carrier revolutionized flying backward. In fact, the carrier is now a two-time winner of the TPG Award for the best international business-class product.
Qsuite offers a bunch of different seating configurations that are ideal for every type of traveler — solo flyers, couples and families. The seats are arranged Tetris-style across the cabin and all Qatar wide-body jets outfitted with a Qsuite cabin offer rear-facing seats.
Aircraft and Cabin Configuration
- Select Boeing 777-200LRs, 777-300ERs, Airbus A350-900s and all of Qatar Airways' A350-1000s feature a Qsuite cabin arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration.
United
Back in the day, most of United's long-haul international fleet flew with rear-facing seats in business class.
Fortunately, those days are long gone. The carrier has its new Polaris business-class experience installed on nearly 70% of the fleet. (The rest of the long-haul fleet is equipped with forward-facing business-class pods in a 2-2-2 or 2-1-2 configuration.)
There are just 23 high-density Boeing 777-200s left with rear-facing seats, which primarily fly domestically or on short hops to Mexico and Latin America.
Aircraft and Cabin Configuration
- Boeing 777-200 — The last remaining Boeing 777s with rear-facing business-class seats are arranged in a tight 2-4-2 configuration. Both the couple seats and the center foursome alternate between forward- and rear-facing. There are four rows on either side and three rows in the center.
Related: Ultimate guide to United Polaris
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