Bulkhead issues
 

In middle seat rows, tray tables, entertainment screens and seat pockets are commonly affixed to the back of seat in front.

However, in bulkhead seat rows, tray tables and entertainment screens are commonly folded out of the seat armrest.

Is there any technical reason anyone could explain, why tray tables and entertainment screens could not be affixed to the bulkhead wall?

bassinets.

some airliines do have pvts fixed to the wall when there is no bassinet position there. Pvts can be very small if they are that fare away from you.

There is no engineering reason that the entertainment system and tray tables couldn't be installed to the bulkhead for those rows, but it makes maintenance and upkeep harder due to the design of some bulkhead assemblies.

On some planes, the bulkhead wall is a foot or two farther away than the seat in front for other seats. So you'd need a much longer bracket, or else the tray would be too far away.

On other planes, the aisle seats may not have a full bulkhead in front of them, as the gap between the bulkheads may be wider than the coach aisle, or misaligned on 2x3 planes like some MD80s.

I prefer the bulkhead seats where the wall is too far away for this to be practical. :-)

Me too!

I think it has to do with the distance of the tray table to the bulk head. Although I have seen TVs mounted on the bulk head. DL 772s if I remember correctly.

A couple of the Air Canada's do this too.

Wondering about the bulkhead seats the last couple of flights I've been on.. I agree, installing a tray from the wall would look awkward, and probably would become a safety issue..

From what I can see, the bulkhead seat armrests can't be lifted, obviously with the trays stored within the armrest.. That's the inconvenience I guess that needs to be put up with for much more leg room..

Also, many bulkheads are also emergency exit rows. Flip-down tray tables would block the path/slow people down in an emergency.

Truuuueeeeeeeeeee.

Well just where do you propose you put your feet if tray tables were there? Entertainment screens don't appear to deter placing feet on the wall.

The novelty of the bulk head is truly having your feet placed above your torso for increased circulation..

Can't do that in Y.. and seems that the FA's don't ask passengers to put down their smelly feet..

Why would you want that? One good thing about having it in the armrest is that you can sneak out without bothering your seatmate or making them fold up their table.

Which leads me to ask the question..

Why so much room at bulkhead when not an emergency row?..

Couldn't the airplanes just spread out more room amongst more rows?

Maybe they keep it the way it is for people who need more room but are not capable of sitting in an exit row. Like someone mentioned the bassinet thing earlier or someone might be disabled and they need more room to get into their seats.

I've had to think about this a bit, and maybe I need to break out the tape measure to check if I have time on a plane. The floor space between a bulkhead row and a regular seat is about the same; just looks different because thre is no seat assembly overhanging the floor space at the bulkhead.

Depends on the plane - some you are right up close against the wall, not much more room - others I can (after seat belt sign is off) use my rollaboard as a footrest and still not be able to touch the wall with my feet.

I see what you mean a bit.. if you stretch your legs out under the seat.. the space to front foot rest of the passenger in front of you would be the same as if it was a bulkhead wall?

I could be imagining things.. but I still think that the bulkhead row may have more room.. but maybe because the first class cabin column transistions to the Y cabin..

On airlines such as VX, the bulkhead seats are called Main Cabin Select. These seats have more legroom. The bulkhead wall contains slide out tables, IFE screens and a trough the width of the bulkhead wall, which contains the safety cards, the earphones and inflight amenity cards. These seats are upgraded seats, better than premium economy not just because of extra legroom, but because of other amenities that come standard with the upgraded fare.

1) Not all bulkhead seats have extra legroom. Some actually have less.
2) The distance from the seat to the bulkhead is not the issue, since exit rows have long distances to the seats in front of them and the tray tables simply have extra long arms.
3) The issue is the structure of the bulkhead itself. Many are relatively thin walls and installing trays that fold into them would not be possible, often because there is not enough thickness for them to fit or because the trays would need a totally different design to be bolted to the outside of the bulkhead wall and would not have the same strength as those that fit into a seat back.

Bulkhead seats remains a nice choice.. obviously take advantage of it if it is available..

If the leg room is the same.. at least there is a lot more knee room.. Seems like the non fold up armrest isn't an issue neither for most who select bulkhead..

You obviously have not flown VX Main Cabin Select yet.... :D