Here's the best explanation I could find:

"It's a "trick" that frequent fliers and aircraft staff use for quick reference on any plane. Some airlines don't use this labeling system, but most do. Window seats are A and F. Aisle seats are C and D. The "missing" letters are filled in if a seat exists in that cluster.

Examples: (the " | | " represents the aisle)
3-3 Configuration: A-B-C | | D-E-F
2-3 Configuration: A-C | | D-E-F
1-2 Configuration: A | | D-F

Most (maybe all?) people want to avoid the middle seats, so they stay away from B and E.

Wide body plane seat numbers (those with two aisles) use a more haphazard system. There doesn't seem to be any consistency in the industry. As stated above, much depends on how many seats there are in the widest part of the plane. Some number straight across, others will skip a letter when there are only two seats in a cluster to indicate there is no middle seat. That's the case in your example.

In any case, the letter "I" is always skipped so it won't be confused with the number "1", thus the "H-K" on the right side of the plane. "I" is always skipped, "J" would be a middle seat (but it doesn't exist in that plane), making "K" a window seat.

Clear as mud, right?" -- http://tinyurl.com/6uksuu
Source(s):
http://tinyurl.com/6uksuu


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