Originally Posted by DA201

Boeing DID plan the 787 around passenger comfort, that was the problem. They wanted to give passengers wide seats (over 18.5"), so they went with wide seats in a 2-4-2 layout. Eventually, someone realized that it is cheaper to go 3-3-3 and the original seats were wide enough that adding an additional seat would not bring the width below 17-18". Same thing with the 777. Boeing designs the plane with wide seats in a 3-3-3 layout, but airlines do their own thing. Blame the airlines for adding the seats.