Airliner comfort ratings

[chomp_rock]

Well, I've ridden on quite a few of commercial airliners in service and I've come up with a rating scale of 1-5 in comfort and a comment or two in parentheses, here it is:

Airbus A300: 3 (noisy) (cramped)
Airbus A310: 4 (noisy)
Airbus A319: 2 (noisy) (cramped)
Airbus A321-200: 4 (noisy) (cramped)
Airbus A330-300: 3 (noisy) (cramped)
Airbus A340-300: 3 (noisy) (cramped)


Boeing 707-320: 4 (noisy)
Boeing 717: 4
Boeing 727-200: 3 (noisy)
Boeing 737-200: 3 (noisy)
Boeing 737-400: 4
Boeing 737-900: 5
Boeing 747-200: 4
Boeing 747-400: 5
Boeing 757-200: 5
Boeing 767-200: 5
Boeing 777-200: 5

BAC/Aerospatiale Concorde: 5 (very noisy)


Fokker F-70: 4
Fokker F-100: 4

Ilyushin Il-96: 2 (noisy) (cramped)

McDonnell Douglas DC-9: 4
McDonnell Douglas MD-80: 4
McDonnell Douglas DC-10: 4
McDonnell Douglas MD-11: 4

Tupolev Tu-134: 2 (noisy) (cramped)
Tupolev Tu-154: 3 (noisy) (cramped)

Feel free to add your own ratings of these and other airliners, no private jets or GA aircraft please!

[Ivan]

add 'Cramped' by all for me....  

[Iroquois]

I think it all depends on the airline wether it's cramped or not. The A320 is noisy espcially with the CFM engines.

I heard somewhere that cramped airliners may become a thing of the past. Apparently airlines (esp. in Europe) are now seeking repeat customers instead of cramming in as many as physically possible. With a lot of people still nervous about flying, getting people to keep comming back is a must.

[chomp_rock]

It seems that almost any plane with CFM engines is noisy, but none are as noisy as the Concorde  ;D.

[monkeyboy726]

i've only flown coach but it's always cramped. few months ago flying back from honolulu in a 767-300 (i think) i had the middle seat in the middle row. being only 5' 8" im not as tall as others.. but it only took an hour before my legs started spasming from the lack of space. my knees were pushed against the seat in front the whole time.. while first class a few rows in front has fully reclining seats  ;D lol.

[Saratoga]

Pilot's ratings (with 5 being best)

727-200ADV - 5
737-(100 through 900) - 5
A-320 - 5

5s for anything you can fly of course!

[Craig.]

start with airbus. i am 6'1 with very long legs(just as a note)
A320: 2 (very cramped and sounded and felt like it was going to shake apart)
A330: 4 (a little cramped because of the PTV box, but quiet)
Boeing. 707, 5 (was only 4 at the time so dont remember much)
727: 4 (cramped but well worth it, noisey but only because i was in the last row)
737: 4 (not to bad, little noisey)
747: 5 (nothing to complain about here, since i was younger the leg room was pleanty)
767: 2 (stuck in the middle, no leg room)
777: 5 (cant say a single thing bad about the aircraft)

MD
DC9/ MD88: 3, (not to noisey but a little cramped)
DC10: 4 (this get a 5 if you get a bulkhead seat, but even my baby has its problem with leg room in my case)
MD11: 3 (Maybe its just KLM but the leg room on this was absolutly awful)

L1011: 4( was a young kid so pleanty of leg room)

ERJ 145: 3 (noisey and lacking in overhead room)

[Hagar]

Chomp. I'm not sure how your rating system works. Is 1 best or worst?

As others have pointed out, I think that comfort depends on the airline rather than the aircraft. The noise level will depend on where you're seated.

I've only ever travelled Economy class. The noisiest airliner I've been on was a Comet 4B, operated by a subsidiary of British European Airways (BEA) as it was then. I don't remember it being particularly uncomfortable although the fuselage was more cramped with less headroom than modern airliners. A Dart Herald comes close 2nd. On the outward journey we sat in line with the props. It was much quieter sitting near the back on the return.

By far the best & most comfortable journey was also the longest - on a Singapore Airlines 747-400 from Heathrow to Changi, Singapore (& back). I can't fault it.
One trip from London to New York on an AA 767 was unusual in that there were so few passengers we each had a whole row of seats to ourselves. It was different on the way home.
The 767 was very noisy on take-off (we were seated near the back) but once the engines were throttled back it's the quietest airliner I've ever been on.

[chomp_rock]

5 is the best 1 is the worst and all are rated from economy class seats.

[chomp_rock]

New addition:
Embraer ERJ-145: 5

[Nexus]

737-300= 5+
737-400= 5+
737-500 = 5+
737-600= 5+
737-800 = 5+

744= 4
767= 4
777= 5

F50= 3 (it has some weird charm to it, but it's ugly looking, more spacious than it looks)

Q400= 2 (hush kits, please?)

DC9= 3 (sat right at the engine, noisy)
MD87= 4
MD82= 4
DC10-30 = 4.5 (just for Craigy)  :-*

A320= 4
A321= 5
A330= 4

Saab 340= 3 (small!)

I tried to rate them in an objective manner, don't know if I suceeded though

[Sobby]

767-200=2 Nosiy Cramped
MD-80=5

[GWSimulations]

VC-10 2
Noisy, some have backward facing seats.

[Woodlouse2002]

5 is the best 1 is the worst and all are rated from economy class seats.

I'm sorry. But the words Concorde and Economy don't seem to go together too well.