Meet the flyers who love the middle seat on…
While flying at top altitude, Shanna Meit-Sciara loves being in the middle.
But the Brooklynite’s outré obsession with sitting in the oft-maligned middle seat of an airplane row isn’t born out of some quirky need to be the heart of consideration.
Instead, it’s a desire rooted in coziness.
Shanna Meit-Sciara (L) with spouse, Gabi (R) says she’s always had a desire for sitting in the middle seat of a airplane, thanks to the snugness and armrest-dominance the place offers. Courtesy Shanna and Gabi Meit-Sciara
“As a born and raised New Yorker, I’m very direct. So, in the middle seat, I’m able to claim my territory over the armrests or I’m able to fold my two feet up and onto the seat and get in a really comfortable position,” Shanna, 34, told The Post.
“Being in the middle seat, even on 14 and 15-hour flights, doesn’t bother me at all,” she chimed in. “I like it.”
Although the aisle and window seats each grant globetrotters a meager, albeit added measure of leg room and personal space in the pleasant skies, a shocking 28% of US vacationers, including Shanna, are more inclined in direction of the in-between, per a February 2026 report.
But, traditionally, it’s the seat that a majority of jet-setters dread, due to the cramped confinement and the inaccessibility to either the bathrooms or the sky-high sights.
Middle seat mud-slingers online have regaled hundreds of thousands with their “genius” hacks for avoiding the contemptible chair. Others across the web have used the undesirable lodging as a relationship litmus take a look at, insisting that if one’s boyfriend “makes you sit in the middle, he doesn’t like you.”
But Staci Sycoff, a tri-state medical social employee and licensed skilled life coach, contends that the scorned seat shouldn’t be condemned as a place of punishment.
In fact, she insists that plopping down in the middle can offer a much-needed sense of serenity to flyers who have a tendency to freak out at 30,000 ft.
“Preferring the middle seat can reflect a nervous system that feels calmer with contact and containment,” Sycoff explained to The Post. “Being physically ‘bookended’ on both sides can create a subtle sense of safety and grounding, especially for people who dislike open space or unpredictability.”
“It can [mimic the feeling of being] held on both sides, which can register as security.”
Shanna (left), sitting next to Gabi (R), says she’s the most comfy, calm and productive in the middle seat during long-haul flights to Europe and Asia. Courtesy Shanna and Gabi Meit-Sciara
Routinely opting for the spot can, too, be an act of mid-air altruism, provides the authority.
“Taking the least desired seat can feel generous, morally tidy, or identity-affirming in a quiet way,” said Sycoff. “It may tap into a people-pleasing instinct, choosing the least popular seat as a quiet way of accommodating others while feeling virtuous about it.”
Shanna gladly squeezes in the middle anytime she flies, but particularly when she’s touring with spouse Gabi Meit-Sciara, 32, who suffers from movement illness during long-haul flights.
The couple, Big Apple-based journey influencers, cruises the clouds roughly 45 instances per 12 months, taking either one long-distance home flight or an worldwide jaunt to enviable getaways like Europe, Japan, the Caribbean, New Zealand and past once every month.
Shanna’s (R) middle seat affinity, coupled with Gabi’s (L) movement illness, makes them the good touring match. Courtesy Shanna and Gabi Meit-Sciara
Gabi calls her spouse’s skyway sacrifice a touring lifesaver.
“It’s super helpful to me that she’s so chill about sitting in the middle,” said Gabi. “For me, being in the aisle or window seat isn’t for comfort; it’s more about my motion sickness. My partner being right next to me in the middle seat is the comfort.”
And Shanna is more than delighted to be of assist.
“It’s easier to just take the middle seat instead of sitting apart in different rows, or having a stranger sit between us,” she said. “We don’t want to inconvenience other people, and the middle seat is not an inconvenience to me.”
Buckling up in the not-so-hot spot is neither an inconvenience to Kelly Davis. Rather than a torture zone, the social butterfly considers it her throne.
Kelly Davis christened herself the “middle seat queen” owing to her unyielding love of the oft-hated chair. Kelly Davis
“I’m the middle seat queen,” Davis, a skilled comic and married mom of 4, proudly proclaimed to The Post.
As a touring stand-up comic, dwelling in Atlanta, the 40-something routinely takes flights all over, including a 15-hour haul from Georgia to Johannesburg, South Africa.
Whenever she’s touring, she cheerfully transforms those cheaper — sometimes the only areas obtainable — middle seats into her stratospheric heart stage.
“I know how to make uncomfortable things comfortable for myself and everyone around me,” said Davis, better recognized to her verified social media followers as humorous girl “Kelly Kellz.”
“I take that middle seat and I make people feel good during a flight, and I take pride in that,” the professional jokester continued, bragging that she’s turned strangers into expensive buddies through laughter, tears, high-fives and resting her head on their shoulders (or vice-versa) from the coronary heart of an plane’s row.
“I give the people on either side of me permission to get comfortable. Relax, make yourself at home with me,” said Davis. “The more relaxed they are, the better my flying experience.”
Davis tells The Post she makes use of her jokes, life tales and personal experiences to entertain of us both on and off stage. Jay Wilson
Sycoff says congeniality is a common trait among middle seat buffs.
“For some, choosing the middle seat offers built-in connection and reduces social discomfort because interaction feels almost inevitable,” famous the insider. “Some personalities genuinely enjoy built-in proximity, spontaneous conversation, and the cozy, tucked-in feeling of being right in the middle of the action.”
As a full-time humorous particular person, Davis enjoys making her airplane neighbors really feel pleased and at home during prolonged flights. Kelly Davis
And as a self-crowned airway royal, Davis wouldn’t have it any other means.
“I’m a joy-dealer,” she gushed. “I look ahead to making people expertise flying as if they’re on my airplane.
“I take ownership in the flights from my middle seat throne.”
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