Seat Pitch Comparison Calculator

Work out seat pitch comparison instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Seat Pitch Comparison Calculator

Knee room is seat pitch minus the seat back thickness minus your upper leg length, which is roughly 24.5% of height. At 76 cm pitch a 185 cm passenger has about 19 cm of upper leg clearance margin — tight but workable until the seat ahead reclines.

Formula

Knee room

knee room = pitch - seat thickness - (height x 0.245)

Worked example

With the default values below, Seat Pitch Comparison Calculator returns Estimated knee room of 18.68. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Seat pitch: 76 cm
Seat width: 43 cm
Passenger height: 185 cm
Recline: 5 °

Results

Estimated knee room: 18.68 cm
Comfort assessment: Comfortable
Seat pitch: 29.92 in
Space lost if the seat ahead reclines: 5.23 cm

Step by step

1Values used
2Knee room
3Estimated knee room= 18.68 cm
4Comfort assessment= Comfortable
5Seat pitch= 29.92 in
6Space lost if the seat ahead reclines= 5.23 cm

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What pitch is standard?

71-79 cm (28-31 in) in short-haul economy, 79-84 cm long-haul, and 96-102 cm in premium economy.

Why does pitch matter more than width?

Width affects shoulder comfort but pitch determines whether your knees touch. Below about 74 cm, tall passengers have no usable knee space.