Airlines aggressively avoid flying planes with empty seats not just for obvious financial reasons, but because human bodies literally provide essential thermal insulation to keep the cabin warm at cruising altitude.

A closer look

Airlines aggressively avoid flying planes with empty seats not just for obvious financial reasons, but because human bodies literally provide essential thermal insulation to keep the cabin warm at cruising altitude. Each adult passenger generates roughly the same amount of heat as a hundred-watt lightbulb, meaning that a fully packed economy section is actively functioning as a massive, breathing space heater. If a flight is incredibly empty, the environmental control systems actually have to work significantly harder to stop the cabin from dropping to freezing temperatures. So the next time you are squished between a guy snoring aggressively and a woman eating pungent tuna salad, try to view them not as a devastating invasion of your personal space, but as highly necessary, flesh-and-blood radiators ensuring you do not freeze to death over the Atlantic Ocean!