A herringbone seating layout features business class seats angled diagonally toward the aisle. While it offers direct aisle access, it typically provides less privacy than the newer reverse herringbone designs.
What Is a Herringbone Seat?
A herringbone seat is a business class seat design in which each seat is angled diagonally toward the aisle, with the passenger's feet pointing toward the walkway, creating a zigzag pattern across the cabin that resembles the herringbone fabric weave it's named for. This angled orientation allows every passenger direct aisle access without climbing over a seatmate, a major upgrade over older forward-facing business class rows.
Airlines began adopting herringbone layouts in the 2000s as carriers competed to offer aisle access in dense 1-2-1 or 1-1-1 configurations. The design solved a real problem — old staggered and forward-facing seats often trapped window passengers — but it also introduced a tradeoff. Because seats angle toward the aisle rather than away from it, herringbone configurations typically expose passengers to more foot traffic and offer less shoulder-height privacy than the reverse herringbone layouts that followed.
How It Works
In a herringbone layout, each seat pod is set on a diagonal, usually angled 7 to 15 degrees toward the aisle, with a side console and often a privacy divider positioned at shoulder or hip height. Seats convert to fully lie-flat beds, commonly in the 72 to 80 inch range. The configuration is typically 1-2-1 across the cabin width, meaning every seat — including middle pairs — has independent aisle access. Because the seat faces toward the walkway, the open side sits closer to passers-by, which is the key structural difference from reverse herringbone designs, where seats angle away from the aisle for greater seclusion.
Airlines & Aircraft
Herringbone-style thinking helped set the standard that current premium products build on. Modern carriers have largely evolved the concept into reverse herringbone or fully enclosed suites: Virgin Atlantic's Upper Class Suite on the A350 and A330neo, Air France's Business cabin on transatlantic routes from JFK, Los Angeles, Miami, and Washington Dulles into Paris CDG, and Delta's Delta One Suite on the A350 and A330-900neo all use 1-2-1 direct-aisle-access layouts descended from the original herringbone concept, with added privacy doors or dividers that classic herringbone seats lacked.
Traveler Tip
When booking, check the seat map before assuming a business class cabin is herringbone or reverse herringbone — the angle direction significantly affects privacy on red-eye flights. CEOFLIGHTS specialists can help find discounted fares — call (888) 851-6897.
