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Which airlines offer the best and most comfortable economy class seats on transatlantic routes? There is no easy way to answer that question, as much will come down to personal preferences and what seats work for each individual person. Taller people are more likely to prioritize extra legroom, while shorter people may emphasize the cushioning or recline of the seat. Other people may place more priority on the service and food options. There is also no clear 'economy' class, as each airline has its own system of categorizing its seating and service options. Another factor is which airlines to consider as qualifying for the purposes of being 'transatlantic.' After all, Singapore Airlines operates a flight from Frankfurt to New York as part of a longer journey from its Changi hub. This article will consider Emirates from outside the region, and then focus on North American and European airlines. It will also consider Norse's premium economy class as a counterpart to flag-carriers' economy class. The airlines discussed all have comfortable economy class offerings and are listed in no particular order. Emirates Safran Z400 seats with 32" pitch Emirates is based in Dubai and operates a range of long-haul transatlantic flights to the United States and elsewhere in the Americas. Additionally, the flag carrier operates fifth freedom flights connecting Athens with Newark Liberty, Milan with New York JFK, and Barcelona with Mexico City. This makes it a transatlantic airline in more of the conventional sense of flights between North America and Europe. Emirates scores a mention in this list as it is the first airline in Skytrax's list of the 'World's Best Economy Class Airlines 2025' that can be best considered a transatlantic carrier. The airlines beating Emirates in Skytrax's list are Cathay Pacific, Qatar, Singapore, ANA, Japan, and EVA Air. Some of these airlines, including Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines, do also fly transatlantic in a sense, but this feels to be stretching the definition a bit far. With that being said, Singapore Airlines does operate a fifth-freedom flight from Frankfurt to New York JFK with the Boeing 777-300ER that originates at its Changi hub. Singapore Airlines is an extremely rare example of a carrier that flies both ways around the world to the same destination, as it operates the world's longest flight, flying east from Singapore nonstop to New York. On its fleet of A380s, Emirates' economy class seats are arranged 3-4-3 with a row pitch of 32", a seat width of 17.9", and a seat recline of 4". The monitor measures 13.3", and these measurements do not change in its new interior. Emirates' new interiors introduce a large number of premium economy seating options for those wanting an upgrade. Emirates' fleet is mostly made up of Boeing 777 and Airbus A380 aircraft, although it is now also receiving A350s. Air France Safran Z300 seats with 31" pitch Excluding Turkish Airlines, Air France is the first airline in Skytrak's ranking that can be considered a true transatlantic airline in the sense of Europe or North America-based airlines flying across the pond. Air France is ranked 11th globally, one position behind Turkish Airlines, which is also often considered a European airline. Air France's widebody fleet is made up of Airbus A330s, A350s, Boeing 777s, and 787s. On Air France's new fleet of A350-900 aircraft, economy seats are arranged in a 3-3-3 configuration. The seats are Safran Z300s and come with a width of 18", a recline of 118°, and a pitch of 31". The touchscreen display measures 11.7". Safran says these seats are designed for long-haul flights and they take into account the "morphologies encountered all over the world" and are made to make "it possible to offer improved comfort to a large group of travelers." France is famous around the world for its cuisine. While options may not be comparable to those in France while flying in economy class, passengers still enjoy a choice of two hot dishes, bread, pastry, and, of course, cheese. France is famously proud of the many varieties of cheese across the country. Air France also says that "on most of our flights, you can enjoy a self-service buffet." Passengers are also treated with complimentary wine and champagne. JetBlue Collins Meridian seats with 32-35" pitch JetBlue is notable for becoming the fourth US-based airline to operate transatlantic flights after Delta, United, and American. Alaska Airlines is becoming the fifth US-based airline to fly across the pond as it takes deliveries of its new fleet of 787-9s it inherited from its acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines. JetBlue exclusively operates Airbus narrowbodies, with 55 Airbus A220s and 229 Airbus A320 family aircraft in its fleet. JetBlue's fleet of Airbus A321neos, and especially its A321LRs, offers a significantly greater range compared to older generation A320 family aircraft or Boeing's 737 MAX family. Even so, they do not have the range of widebody aircraft, and JetBlue is mostly limited to flying transatlantic routes from the eastern United States to Western Europe. Its A321LRs have the option of business class seats based on the Thompson Aero Vantage Solo platform. Its economy class seats Collins Meridians, with the base economy offering having 32" of seat pitch, a seat width of 18", and a recline of 3". 'Even More Space' economy seats have the same width and recline but 35" of pitch. The economy screens measure 10.1". Even More Space passengers also enjoy dedicated overhead bins, free in-flight alcoholic drinks (including beer, wine, and liquor), and other benefits. JetBlue's aircraft offer free high-speed in-flight WiFi. Delta Air Lines Collins Aerospace Meridian seats with 32-34" pitch Delta Air Lines is regularly ranked as the top US-based airline. In Skytrax's 2025 ranking of the best airlines, Delta was ranked as the 21st in the world. This was a considerably higher rank than United Airlines (44) and American Airlines (83). In its list of best economy airlines, Delta scored much better, coming in 13th place behind Saudia and ahead of Virgin Atlantic. It even scored better than Etihad (15) and British Airways (17). With a gigantic fleet of around 1,000 mainline airliners, Delta operates a large range of aircraft, but is switching to a consolidated widebody fleet of A330neos and A350s. Even though its remaining fleet of Boeing 767-400ERs is aging, economy class on these aircraft has long been noted for being comfortable in their 2-3-2 layout. On these aircraft, Delta's standard economy class seats come with a width of 18", a pitch of 32", and a recline of 4". Passengers can also fly on Delta's more modern A330neo and clean-sheet A350 aircraft. As a new aircraft, the A350 offers greater cabin pressure and improved humidity. Delta is also in the process of rolling out fast and free WiFi on its fleet. Free WiFi is available for SkyMiles Members on most domestic flights and is currently rolling out internationally. By some metrics, Delta is the largest airline in the world, with United and American also ranking highly. Norse Atlantic Airways' Premium Economy Haeco 3050 recliner seats with 43" pitch Norse Atlantic is a low-cost carrier, but one with a particular offering. As a low-cost carrier, it offers cheap flights from the US to Europe, starting as low as $99. Indeed, at the time of writing, there were tickets in January 2026 from New York-JFK to London-Gatwick from $99 for economy and $304 for premium economy. For comparison, British Airways listed a flight on the same day from JFK to Heathrow in economy with fares starting at $234. Overlooking that one flight goes to Gatwick and the other to Heathrow, Norse's premium economy seats are closer to BA's economy seats than BA's economy seats are to Norse's economy offering. In 2024, Norse Atlantic CEO Bjørn Tore Larsen said that the airline's premium economy is a "great product, a premium product." He explained that "I sleep like a baby there, and I actually find it hard to sleep anywhere, but I'm sleeping like a baby." Those booking Norse's premium economy enjoy a pitch of 43", a width of 19", and a recline of 12". These seats also come with 11" touchscreens. The fleet is exclusively made up of Boeing 787-9s, and the premium economy seats are configured as 2-3-2. While it may be stretching the definition of 'economy,' given Norse's premium seats can cost similar prices to economy seats on some flag carriers, they offer an excellent alternative to those on a budget.
