Can't stand the air conditioning? Plane by plane, where you don't have to sit

Too hot. Or too cold. It is rare that the temperature inside the cabin of an airplane is fine for everyone. First, because we passengers are not all the same. And second, because no two flights during which the temperature set by the crew is exactly the same.

Thus, aboard the same plane and a few seats apart, you happen to see someone in a T-shirt and someone else wrapped in a blanket. Feeling hot or cold can significantly affect the in-flight experience especially on long-haul flights, understood as such those above six hours.

Said unpredictability of 'weather' conditions on board, there are on airplanes areas that are more exposed to the 'winds' emitted by the augers placed on the cabin vault, the ones, to be clear, that the individual passenger cannot control, unlike the vents positioned (not on all models or by all companies) a few inches above his or her head. And which change depending on the model of airplane on which you are traveling.

Wide-body aircraft

On long-haul, where mostly widebodies (i.e., wide-body, twin-aisle models) operate, the most popular models today are the mammoth Airbus A380, the A330/340/350 family also from Airbus, and the Boeing 777, 787, and 767. Which seats are best to sit in if one does not like air conditioning (or which, conversely, are to be avoided by those who adore the icy blast)?

The A330/A340/A350s and B777s are accumulated by having the Air conditioning vents that 'shoot' toward the central area of the cabin. So those who suffer or detest air conditioning will do well to choose seats closer to the fuselage walls: those in pairs in Airbus' classic 2+4+2 Economy or those placed on the left or right side of the cabin in the 3+4+3 (more rarely 3+3+3) B777.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner differs from the 777 to have an additional nozzle just below the overhead compartments, with the consequence that the places sheltered from the direct jet of air conditioning are, in practice, only those designated as 'window'. And the same thing applies on the Airbus A380.

A discourse itself must be made for the Boeing 767, the only one among the widebodies in circulation today to have the air conditioning augers facing the two outer sides of the cabin. And where the cold-hearted will do well to choose one of the seats in the middle 'block' of seats, the one to be precise between the two aisles where three seats per row are installed in the classic 2+3+2 configuration of Economy on this type of aircraft. The Boeing 767 is an aircraft that airlines are replacing with more modern and fuel-efficient models, such as the Boeing 787. In Italy, however, they are still used on some flights to and from the United States operated by the three major U.S. airlines, United, American and Delta. And on some connections from São Paulo by Brazil's Tam.

Narrow-body aircraft

On short-haul, where the discomfort of 'hot' and 'cold' is limited by the short duration of the flight, both the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 families have centralized air conditioning nozzles placed in a 'slot' just below the overhead bins. Again, as on the B787s and A380s, the most sheltered seats are the 'window' seats, as are those on Embraers, whether first-generation ERJs (E-170, E175, E190, E-195) or the latest generation E-2s.

The sunshine factor

Another factor must be taken into account when talking about temperature inside an airplane: the sun. The sun's rays pass through the windows, creating a minimum of a 'greenhouse effect,' whereby the side of the cabin directly exposed to the sun is warmer than the side 'in the shade' (obviously with the shades up). For example, crossing westward over the Atlantic on a classic flight departing from Europe in the late morning or early afternoon, the left side of the cabin almost always remains 'in the sun' and is warmer than the right side. Discourse that, of course, has relative value on B787s if the crew remotely 'darkens' the portholes, preventing passengers from operating independently.