Tens, tens, tens across the board

Except in Australia, the Boeing 777 passenger experience lucky country

When Boeing first built the 747 in the late 1960s, the on-board experience was comparatively palatial, even in economy class. Seats were arranged in what now feels an exotically spacious 3-4-2 configuration, as seen in very early Qantas 747 promotional images, complete with fantastically 1970s wall treatments and outfits.

The spacious interior didn’t last, however, as airlines realised that without too many complaints they could fit an extra passenger in each row, making every seat about 17.5in wide. (That’s just under 44.5cm, but as with pitch, seat width in aviation is largely counted in inches. Multiply by 2.54 to get centimetres.)