hi, I'm an RN in the nicu, and I have a lot of experience in car seat safety. I would not be so set on rear face vs forward, as those recommendations are made for cars. When a car is hit by another car on the ground, the infant has more back/neck support when rear facing. However, the turbulance (or worse- collision?) in an airplane has a totally different force to it coming from a different angle (up down usually) so it is not the same. I would forward face in your infant seat if that is the rule, or get a convertible seat and forward face in that.