Still Up in the Air Over Which Seat to Select? : Airlines: There is far more to choosing a seat on an aircraft than simply selecting between aisle and window. A little research can result in greater comfort.

When was the last time you looked at an airplane’s seating plan before making a reservation?

After selecting a class of service, many travelers just choose a smoking or nonsmoking section (on flights where smoking is permitted), and an aisle or window seat. But there are other considerations, depending on the type of jet and, on occasion, the route.

Some seats have less leg room than others. Some only partially recline or don’t recline at all. Some seats allow no view of in-flight movies. Middle seats, between two other passengers, are unpopular, but can be avoided.

To make the best seat selection and therefore enjoy the most comfortable flight--a particularly important factor on lengthy journey--the airline’s seating plan should be consulted.

Among airlines, British Airways is conducting an eight-month test in the Houston/Dallas market in which there will be an “economy select” area as well as the standard economy class. The test, which began Feb. 1, involves the carrier’s DC-10-30 flights from Texas to London.

Full-fare-paying economy passengers are entitled to fly in the new area, with economy passengers on discounted tickets will sit in the usual coach section. The seating configuration is the same between the two economy sections--two-seat aisles next to the windows sandwiching a center aisle with five seats.

The difference is this: If you fly in the 31-seat “select” area, you get a special check-in area and an extra three inches of leg room between the seats. There is a nonsmoking section within this “select” area.

“The reason behind the test is to see how many business travelers can be induced to fly on this full-fare basis,” said Vangie Sorenson, a British Airways spokeswoman. “The trend has been for many business travelers to fly economy (rather than) full fare due to their companies controlling travel costs more tightly.”

If the new, comfort section proves successful, look for the trend to appear in other markets, including Southern California.

Meanwhile, paying attention to airline seat configurations may produce more comfort even if there is no market segmentation.

For example, if you’re flying on Lufthansa’s routes to Tokyo, Beijing or Hong Kong out of Frankfurt on one of the carrier’s new 747-400s, there is a new business-class configuration.

The new configuration has six rows of 30 seats, two seats on each aisle separated by another two seats in the center. Middle seats are eliminated.

Slightly behind this business-class section, which occupies the area where first-class usually is located, the remaining business-class section has 56 seats, with two seats on each side and four seats in the middle.

The cost of seats in both business-class sections is identical, as are the amenities that go with this class of service, according to Joe Zucker, a Lufthansa spokesman.

“The earlier one books, the better the chance of a seat in the more spacious business-class section,” Zucker said.

First-class on these jets is on the upper deck. In the coach section, passengers sit in a 3-4-3 configuration.

The German carrier is expected to offer service out of LAX on its 747-400s in the near future, Zucker added.

British Airways is going to introduce 747-400 service from LAX to London in May. But in this case, the upper deck will be entirely for economy-class passengers, with a seat configuration of 3-3, two sides with 3 seats each.

The economy-class section in the lower deck is a little more crowded with a 3-4-3 configuration, though you can always ask for either the first or last three rows, which only have two seats on the window sides, with a four-seat complement in between. Business class will have a 2-3-2 configuration, with a standard first-class section.

Singapore Airlines is using its new 747-400s on its San Francisco-Hong Kong-Singapore routing, but with the same sort of first- , business- and economy-class configurations on its 747-300s out of LAX. This means 3-4-3 seat arrangements in economy, but 2-2 in business class.

The upper deck of the Singapore’s 747-400s is used for nonsmoking business-class passengers. Two other distinctions aboard this jet: Business-class passengers have a new compartment on seat rests to store small items like glasses and headsets, and economy-class passengers have footrests.

Starting in September, SAS plans to eliminate first-class seats and concentrate on business class, using 767s on its nonstop LAX-Copenhagen route. The business-class configuration will be two seats on each aisle and two seats in a middle row.