Yesterday I flew on United fom IAD to LHR, and I sat in one of the rear facing seats. I didn't really notice it to be any differant that their forward facing counterparts, but it got me thinking; what, if any, is the benefit to this layout?
Personally, I found it quite odd as did many other passengers.
Again, they're no less comfortable or anything like that, it's just an odd experience.

I dunno, to me it seems like a cock up, why not just make them all face the same direction.

As a side note, thank god I wasn't in one of the middle rows where the seats are in groups of 4 (2-4-2). In my humble opinion 4 seats in the middle is just too dense for a business class cabin. A 2-3-2 configuration would be much more acceptable. But that's a rant for another day

I believe the benefit is easier access to the aisles. In configurations where everyone's facing the same way, you end up with people "trapped" against the windows or in middle seats, whereas with the alternating seat configuration it's possible for everyone to get to the aisle without bothering their neighbors. In principle, anyway.

also you can have it wider at shoulders and narrower at the feet using this like in BA club world

I see how that would work nicely on BA's layout, but on UA where it's both seats in the "pod" face the same direction it makes no difference for aisle access. If your seated in a rear or forward facing window you still have to climb over your neighbor. I dunno, I guess I'm just not used to that style.

Yes that's true, I've never flown BA's club world. In the last 10 years I've been on maybe 5 BA flights. I'm a Star Alliance whore...or at least my employer is. LOL.

When I used to fly on RAF VC-10 air trooping flights to Germany (as an army brat), all of the passenger seats were rear facing. I believe that this was for marginal benefits in safety/survivability in the case of a crash. However, having taken that step, it always seemed like they were tempting fate!

My mother said that the rear facing seats helped with motion sickness, but others have said that it exacerbated it.

....as long as you don't get negative miles.

Haha, deffinatly +1 to that quip about negative miles.
Our flight was a smooth one so I can't comment on wether it makes motion sickness better or worse. I do know that when on trains or busses facing backwards seems to make me a bit dizzy for what ever reason.

Because they don't fit into the airplane that way. If you wanted them all to face the same direction they would need to be shorter when they are flat. That space for your feet is shaped the way it is because there are another pair of feet using that same amount of inches, though separated by the dividing wall.

One small benefit to the rear facing seats is that when in cruise your head is slightly elevated above your feet. Many people find that more comfortable without knowing why.

I don't know....I like to see where I've been............:-)

To Planemechanic: That's a good point that I didn't think of, but I still don't like it. Oh well, guess you can't please 'em all. The seat was comfortable though.

To Dssxxxx: don't we all

The RAF, USAF and the USN all converted a/c to rear facing pax seats.

The reason was pretty simple. It alleviated the long time problem of pairing heads (all relocated to the forward bulkhead) and torsos (still belted in) after very sudden stops.

Commercial carriers resisted the change (which does provide some modest safety benefit) on the grounds that paying pax don't like flying *ss-backwards...

I thought it was also over the risk of overhead bags (in the off chance they fall out) from flying into passengers in the event of a crash?

I had the rear facing seat once and it made the motion sickness on take off and landing almost unbearable. I definately thought I was going to vomit I was so sick to my stomach. I don't usually have that problem as long as I sit in the front of the plane. I noticed it was worse when stuck in the back on take off and landing.

The one incident was enough to make me switch from United to USAir when I started picking up more international travel. I am very curious to read about other's experiences with the backward facing seats and what they thought of them.

Count me among those who prefer the rear-facing seats. I find it more comfortable for sleeping, as planemechanic mentioned previously.

I only wish UA hadn't crammed them in 4 across and they had at least a little bit of storage.

When reading the first post in this thread, my immediate thought was how motion sick that would make me. As I've gotten older (even though I'm only 28 now) I've noticed I am more and more sensitive to motion sickness. When taking off and landing, I have to close my eyes and focus on my breathing. I probably look like I'm terrified of flying to others around me, but I'm just trying not to vomit

I actually prefer the rear facing lie-flat seats. Given that most aircraft fly a little "nose up" (I don't know what the tech term is), I find that my head is always a tad higher than my feet when I try to sleep. More natural.

My sympathies to those with motion sickness. I can see what a nightmare the seating position can be like.