Yesterday, I boarded a United Airlines Boeing 737-800 for what was a routine flight. But something was different, something bothered me. As I glanced at the row numbers printed on the aircraft’s luggage compartments and made my way to my seat, I noticed the aircraft just straight up skipped a whole row. Row 8 was followed by row 10. I sat in my seat staring at the ceiling, wondering where row 9 went. Then, I realized this plane skips a bunch of rows and somehow I haven’t noticed this over years of flying. There’s a reason for this, and somehow this closes a curiosity I’ve had for years, a curiosity I’m sure you’ve had, too.
I’m sure many Americans board planes like I do. I glance at the row numbers printed on the luggage compartments, then I look down to make sure I’m not smacking some poor passenger in the face with my purse. All of this is happening quickly because there’s a line of people all trying to board at the same time, so it’s not like I have time to sit there and count the rows. I’m just glancing at the numbers until I reach my destination.
I’ve been flying commercial since 2016 and an observation I’ve made is that I seem to get from row 15 or so to row 30 very quickly. Again, I’m not actually counting the rows, but the next time I look up I’m already deep into the 20s after having been at row 15 or so in what felt like only a few seconds ago. It’s even worse on Airbus A320s, where I feel like I warp straight past row 30 without much delay. I’ve always just dismissed it as me not paying too much attention during boarding, or maybe time briefly falls into a black hole or something. As it turns out, I wasn’t paying enough attention, but not for the reason I thought. Thankfully, I’m not alone.
My wife, Sheryl, used to be similarly confused at how she would traverse a plane with supposedly 38 rows so quickly. The answer is a little funny. The picture above is what I saw from my seat in 10F yesterday. Where’s row 9, United?
The Missing Seats
The mystery of the missing 9th row plagued my brain for the rest of the day. As you can see in my photos it’s not like there’s something in between row 8 and row 10. Both rows are Economy Plus class and it’s not like the poor row 9 people disappeared into a different realm. Row 9 just doesn’t exist.
To be clear, I was already aware that some rows weren’t present on these aircraft. For example, in this United 737-800 layout, the first four rows were for United First, which involves big, cushy seats, more legroom, and even a dividing partition with ample legroom for the front of the Economy Plus class. So, the fact that the row count jumps from 4 to 7 and skips 5 and 6 makes total sense to me.
What caught me was how many other seats United and other airlines skip. Let’s just take a gander at the 737-800 I rode in yesterday. It looked a bit like this other 737 I took a picture of.
Right, so we start by skipping rows 5 and 6, which is what I expected. Then we skip mystery row 9, which is the one that started living rent-free in my brain. Things go back to normal until we skip row 13. Then, we just jump a huge swath of numbers as we skip everything past row 15 to row 20 as we arrive at the aircraft’s Exit Rows. Things get normal and boring again as the rows count sequentially until we skip row 33 to end at row 38.
Now, math wasn’t my strong suit in school, but by my count, United is skipping a whopping 9 rows on the way to 38.
It’s not just 737s, either. Let’s look at a seat map for a United Airbus A320. This time, the United First class ends at row 3 and we skip rows 4, 5, and 6 on the way to 7. Row 9 also departed this aircraft, but things get real fun at row 12. This time, we jump from 12 straight to 20. That’s 7 whole rows zapped from reality all at once. Things get back on track before we skip row 33 again to end at row 38.
The more aircraft you look at, the weirder this gets. A United 777-200 “50/24/202” seat configuration has a row 9 and a row 33, but skips rows 13 and 14. Yet, a United Bombardier CRJ-900 skips no rows at all, and yep, it does have a United First class. Indeed, rows 9 and 13 are present on this aircraft! Likewise, no skips are made for the exit rows.
But don’t think that the small planes are immune from skipping rows. A United Embraer E-170 skips 4 rows between 2 and 7 and then skips row 13.
It’s also not just a United Airlines thing. A quick look at an American Airlines Airbus A320 shows that the airline will skip some numbers between its upper and lower classes, but it’s happy to have a row 9, a row 13, and a row 33 when applicable. Delta Air Lines is the same way.
A Reasonable Explanation
Alright, so we’ve established that some airlines are skipping row numbers in their fleet. But why? Why does a plane like a United Boeing 737 MAX 8, which isn’t that old of an aircraft, skip the same rows as an older United Boeing 737-800 NG?
As aviation news site Simply Flying writes, a lot of it boils down to superstitions. Many people already have a fear of flying. Toss in superstitions about numbers and that can keep someone from ever stepping foot on a commercial aircraft. In some cultures, the number 13 is unlucky. Now, I should stress that commercial aviation is still one of the safest ways to travel, so the airlines really don’t need to worry about what’s going to happen in row 13. However, eliminating row 13 is a cheap and easy way to prevent someone freaking out when they see a row 13 seat assignment on their boarding pass.
So, airlines operating in regions where certain numbers have negative connotations may remove those rows from their seating charts and aircraft. Rows 14, 17, and 4 will also be missing from certain aircraft operating in some markets due to their unpopularity. Simply Flying notes that the number 4 is pronounced a lot like the Chinese word for “death,” which is understandably not something you want to see on your next flight. Everything from plane rows to building floors in Asia skip the number 4.
This is also why you’ll see hotels skipping random floors. Sure, polling in the past has revealed that it’s likely that relatively few people care about things like the number 13 appearing as a hotel floor, but the number isn’t zero. Simply removing the number 13 is a cheap way around it.
Reportedly, these are the airlines that skip unlucky numbers, from Simply Flying:
– Iberia, Lufthansa, Air France, ITA, and Ryanair all skip row 13.
– Among the top airlines in the UK, for example, only Virgin Atlantic skips row 13; British Airways, easyJet, and Jet2.com do not.
– United Airlines (on most aircraft types) and Alaska Airlines (only on the 737-800) skip row 13. Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and Southwest Airlines do not.
– Middle Eastern giants Emirates and Qatar Airways follow the practice.
– In Asia, airlines adopting it include China Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong Airlines, Thai Airways, and Singapore Airlines.
Alright, so that’s why row 13 is gone on these planes I’ve been in. But why are these aircraft making the leaps from rows 12 or 15 straight to row 20? Why are these United planes skipping row 33 and ending with many more rows than the planes actually have?
The answer to this question comes from the travel site Travel + Leisure. United gave a statement to the site, stating, from Travel + Leisure:
“We used to skip 33 on certain maps to make the [final] row standardized, but the end row is no longer standardized,” a United Airlines spokesperson told Travel + Leisure. In short, the reasoning behind having a unanimous seating map is a math equation of sorts. The aircraft seating chart must end in an even, round number, like 40 or 50, which the airline considers “standard.” The row is not skipped on the even newer aircrafts. Rows 20 and 21 are maintained at exit rows across the board of all United Airlines planes, resulting in a skewed number system, depending on the aircraft and potentially “missing” rows. This makes it easier to switch out airplanes and for passengers to choose their seats, always knowing where the exit rows are located.
Once you go back to United’s seat maps things suddenly make sense. Rows 20 and 21 are usually exit rows on United’s narrowbody aircraft, which requires the deletion of some rows to make that work. I suppose that also explains why poor row 9 is gone.
Then, when you look at a United Airbus A320 and a United 737-800, you’ll notice that they both end with a row 38 despite the fact that United’s A320 configuration seats 150 passengers but the 737 seats 16 more people, or enough people to fill 2 Economy rows and 1 First row. But as far as the seat maps are concerned, there are “38” rows in both cases.
As United’s spokesperson said to Travel + Leisure, the airline does include a row 33 on some aircraft today and there seems to be less emphasis on ensuring the seat maps end with the same row. For example, a United Boeing 737-900 ends in row 39 and includes my precious missing row 9, but a United Airbus A321neo ends in row 42, also bringing row 9 along for the ride.
I have reached out to United Airlines for clarification on missing rows as well as for an explanation as to why it used to care so much about where its rows ended.
So there you have it. If you’ve ever wondered why you’ve gotten to the back of the plane so quickly, this is why. You didn’t fall through a portal and you didn’t jump through time. Your airline just skipped a bunch of seats in a subtle way you didn’t notice. If you previously did notice missing rows, now you also know why. Either way, I’m sure that like me, you’re now going to be counting seats to see just how weird seat maps can get.
(Images: Author, unless otherwise noted.)
Maybe it’s in the comments below, but you’re missing the other, perhaps more important reason row numbers are skipped. And it makes much more sense than superstition- consistency.
One airline in the US flies all 737. NGs, MAX, and formerly Classics. They don’t so much skip row numbers as “reset” them so row 6 is always the row behind the class divider that may not have under seat storage, row 15 is always the non-reclining row before the exit row(s), row 16 is always the non-reclining exit row, and 17 is always the reclining exit row.
Frequent fliers and gate agents both appreciate not having to know which variant is at the end of the jet bridge to know they got the coveted reclining exit row.
Airlines even do this to add consistency between different fleets or (to a lesser extent) between mainline and regional fleets.
Miss Zarves has the window seat in Row 19.
Christmas Eve 20 years ago – SFO.
We board our United Airlines flight to Seattle where I’m planning on spending the holidays with my Bestie and his friends/family – I’m comfortably ensconced in my port side row 3 aisle seat with a pre-flight glass of wine.
We eventually take off – and as we are soaring over the Bay Bridge, our pilot comes on to make the announcement that we have a hydraulic leak and are retreating to SFO.
This is not good.
As we disembark, we are told that there’s a replacement aircraft at gate X – and that when we get there we should board the same seats as are on our tickets, and our luggage is being transferred to the new aircraft – our delay should only be an hour or so.
We arrive at the gate and just as they begin announcements to board, there’s an announcement: Would all the passengers in row 3 come to the desk please?
Why – There’s no row 3 on this plane.
There is much angst – kids are crying because there’s a family of four in starboard rows 2 and 3 – and I stand there glaring at the gate agent, seething – because my Bestie went all out and has a party limo waiting for me at SeaTac, etc., etc.
I look hard at the agent and say “Why are you bumping us off the plane because there’s no row 3? We all paid extra for First Class seats, and you’re bumping US off the plane? Why not move everyone else back a row?”
Nope – Can’t possibly do that – oh, and BTW – our luggage is being sent to Seattle without us because there’s no time to dig our bags out in such as short time. There may be flights available tomorrow afternoon or the next day…. (cue crying kids)
Long story short – After cancelling everything (hotel, party, etc), then rebooking everything on the last flight to SeaTac in a middle row economy seat, I make it to Seattle around 12.30 AM Christmas Day – in bed around 2AM
After nearly 2 decades of brand loyalty – This was the last trip I would ever fly United Airlines.
So yes, I knew missing rows were a thing.
Speaking of superstitions, one of my favorite things about visiting Tokyo was that I could get a hotel room on the 13th floor.
Oh, I really like that. I once got moved from an exit row to a non-exit row because they changed planes but didn’t change seat assignments. As a tall person who goes out of his way to book rows with extra leg room I was not pleased.
It’s a good thing I’m Allegiant to this site, otherwise I couldn’t COPA with the silly pun threads.
I finally registered for this site just for this article. Been working in the aircraft interiors industry for 15+ years. I’m very happy to see a clear explanation. Keep up the good work!
In my view, these superstitions are stupid.
If I had my way, I’d make the row numbers 4, 9, 13,14, 17,39, 43, 666… then 4a, 9a, 13a, etc… then 4b, 9b, 13b, etc.
And then I would name the last row “Macbeth”.
Hell… I’d call it “Macbeth Airlines”
Meanwhile, Alaska airlines has removed row 26 from all their 737 Max 9s
So what she’s saying is that there’s some Delta between how the rows are labelled. That’s a LOT to process.
I’ve been in aviation for years and didn’t know this. Thank you!
Funny, when I get on a plane it always feels like they added rows.
I prefer missing rows vs missing doors.
Yeah, I figured any missing seats or rows were near the door bolts.
I’ve never really noticed to be honest
I was flying in a 787 widebody about a month ago and didn’t notice the missing rows. What I did notice is that there were 9 columns of seats, in a 3x3x3 configuration and they were labeled “A, B, C”, “D, F, G”, and “H, J, K”, skipping “E” and “I”. I wonder if there’s a similar reason
My guess would be that it is a similar kind of standardization. In that case with United’s 777’s, which are 3x4x3 configuration – which explains the missing ‘E’ in the middle section, but not the ‘I’ in the starboard side. Maybe to avoid confusion with the number 1?
Yep, noticed this on wide-bodies with a 2-4-2 configuration too. Singapore Airlines, on their A330s and 777s have the outer rows of seats designated A&C, and I&K (no Bs and Cs). Qantas A330s however, have A&B and J&K (so no B and I). The middle rows are all D,E,F,G on all of them. Must be a standardisation, having A and K the outermost seats on a widebody jet.
Pretty much. It comes down to location of the pax (passenger). with respect to the other pax and other seats.
When speaking French, E is pronounced like I; and, I pronounced like E.
“E” and “I” are skipped simply because they can be confused with “F” and “L” respectively. It’s the same kind of process for revisions on documents. If they got up to seat “O” they would skip that too since it could look like a “Q”.
My wife used to work on the 13th floor at 666 Fifth Avenue. Her company had to rent space on another floor because some clients refused to come to their office on the 13th floor. Odd that those clients had no problem with the giant glowing 666 (the sign of the beast) on the roof.
The floor and street numbers are straight-up angelic compared to the building owner.
On the other hand, sounds like a great place to have an office if you want people to leave you alone!
If that was my office, I’d make the dress code “goth casual” and our lobby area would look like something from the set of “Wednesday”.
I feel like I’m entering a whole new Frontier. 🙂
That’s because we are United in our knowledge of row numbers and our flight is heading Southwest.
Damn. I spent a lot of time on planes this year. I like to think I usually have an eye for these little details, but now you have me questioning my entire existence.
Well, of course, every aircraft does have a 13th row, a fact which is not altered by choosing to call it something else. Call it 17 or 22, it’s the 13th. Count it.
Having only flown SWA for the last 30 years, I was unaware that any airlines engaged in such tomfoolery. SWA number each row in order to 30 (depending on equipment. The MAX 8 is more desirable as the pitch is 32” compared to 31” on the 700. It is really noticeable as you switch from one to the other.
I mostly fly SWA and as a result I never pay to the rows and seat letters. I guess that’ll be changing soon when SWA goes away from their free-for-all seating.
The only thing I do pay attention to is memorizing the number of seats it’ll take for me to get to the emergency exit.
It seems like the easier option would just be swapping the letters/numbers so for example seat 13A just becomes M1
For >26 rows, just copy excel and start over with row AA
Or go with completely nonsensical symbols like The Artist Formally Known As Prince
Sad thing is, most of them used to be really fun to hang out with
Excellent article but as a long time flyer row 9 isn’t missing it is actually row 9 3/4 and it is how the rich witch gets to Hogwarts. Second rows that are bad luck numbers, if row 13 or any others are going down the rest of the plane is joining them. If instead they did letter rows and numbers on the seats no problem. Number skipped or not the 12th floor is the 13th floor no matter what. Did you forget the basement was a floor? I never noticed missing rows so this was very interesting I just chalked it up to the further you get the more people are seated so it goes faster. Which brings up a question? If the rows are missing why does it take so long to exit the same distance?
The basement is not a floor, it’s a hole.
I want to see an elevator button for “Floor -1” instead of “B”.
I have actually seen this before! No idea where though.
It’s how the elevators in the London Underground were marked. 0 for street or topmost level and -1 for the track or lower level.
In Europe where what we Americans call the first floor is called the ground or 0 floor, and the first floor is what we call the second floor the negative numbering scheme for basement levels is quite common.
In Italy, the ground floor is zero, and the floor below that is -1 etc.
And on Hawaiian Airlines planes, each row is missing a bunch of seats 😉
Seems common throughout Europe. Ground floor is floor zero, not 1.
I think they are missing seats because more fuel on plan and well of course upselling passengers.
Did you notice that in Europe the 2nd floor is 3 flights up?
I was in London two weeks ago. We were on the third floor of an old Victorian bnb. My wife still hasn’t forgiven me for booking that room.
It is truly remarkable how, pretty much wherever you go in the US, there is never a 13th floor. From 100+ year old buildings to high rises built or remodeled recently, floor 13 doesn’t exist. It’s remarkable how such a silly little superstition has made such an impact that even new buildings don’t have 13th floors. (Real dedication would be building an actual 13th floor but leaving it vacant).
I was reading this article and expected to see no 13th row on planes either–and was not disappointed. I never really thought about all the other number-based or adjacent superstitions from around the world, but it makes sense to take some of them into consideration on planes.
Not really 100 year old building seldom got tall enough for a 13th floor.
I worked in a 20 story tower built in 1912, when it was constructed it was the tallest building in Louisville.
100 years ago was 1924, 13 stories hadn’t been a big deal since around the turn of the 20th century. The tallest building in the world at that point was 792 ft/241m and 55 floors, and it was already 11 years old.
The first great age of skyscrapers ended around 1920. Just over 100 years ago.
The town I grew up in had a 315ft tall building that was built in 1096. So 928 years old and tall enough for 30 stories.
The floors aren’t numbered, but I have a picture of my dad waving out of one of the windows near the top, and it was a lot of stairs.
The joke is on everybody on floor 14. You can call it whatever you want, but you’re still 13 floors up.
Depends if you are counting in European or American floors. Europeans typically count ground as we count 0. So our 2nd floor is their first. So you might be ok, as you are on 12.
Some buildings do have an uninhabited 13th floor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteenth_floor
Real dedication would be building an actual 13th floor but leaving it vacant
That is the plot of many a horror story.
I have worked in multiple buildings where they skipped the 13th floor by simply calling the ground level something else and starting the first floor on the second level. My favorite was a 14 level building in Africa that called the ground level 0, and the basement floor that led to the underground parking level was called 00 out of fear of negative numbers (for reasons I could never get a straight answer to).
I’ve built several high rises and office buildings in the US. They all have a 13th floor. The only one we ever skipped was the 14th floor for an apartment building in LA. Skipping the 13th is far less common than you think.
Seems like every time I catch an elevator at the 13th floor, Roky Erickson and some guy blowing into a jug gets on.
I’ve heard a lot of times the 13th floor is used for building mechanical stuff.
Skipping row #9 is a tribute to John Lennon, obviously.
Personally I’m not flying on a newer Boeing for a long long time.
They got a lot to fix and not much time to do so anymore.
….and fewer people do do the fixes – because we need to reduce costs by laying people off, not fixing the problems Senior Executive Management caused by reducing headcount in the first place.
Thank you for an interesting article on this. I had noticed missing rows before, but didn’t know it was so common and about the missing rows in the back (I have had the luxury in recent years to not have to go too far in back of the exit rows).