This study investigates how the layout and density of seats in aircraft cabins influence the pricing of airline tickets on domestic flights. The analysis is based on microdata from boarding passes linked to face-to-face interviews with passengers, allowing us to relate the price paid to the location on the aircraft seat map, as well as market characteristics and flight operations. Econometric models were estimated using the Post-Double-Selection LASSO (PDS-LASSO) procedure, which selects numerous controls for unobservable factors linked to commercial and operational aspects, thus enabling better identification of the effect of variables such as advance purchase, reason for travel, fuel price, market structure, and load factor, among others. The results suggest that a higher density of seat rows is associated with lower prices, reflecting economies of scale with the increase in aircraft size and gains in operational efficiency. An unexpected result was also obtained: in situations where there was no seat selection fee, passengers with more expensive tickets were often allocated middle seats due to purchasing at short notice, when the side alternatives were no longer available. This behavior helps explain the economic logic behind one of the main ancillary revenues of airlines. In addition to quantitative analysis, the study incorporates an exploratory approach to innovative cabin concepts and their possible effects on density and comfort on board.

翻译：本研究探讨飞机客舱的座位布局与密度如何影响国内航班的机票定价。分析基于登机牌微观数据，并结合与乘客的面对面访谈，使我们能够将支付价格与飞机座位图上的位置、市场特征及航班运营情况相关联。通过采用后双选LASSO（PDS-LASSO）程序估计计量经济模型，该方法针对与商业和运营方面相关的不可观测因素选择了大量控制变量，从而更好地识别提前购票时间、旅行原因、燃油价格、市场结构和载客率等变量的影响。结果表明，更高的座位行密度与更低的票价相关，这反映了随着飞机尺寸增大带来的规模经济以及运营效率的提升。研究还获得了一个意外发现：在未收取选座费的情况下，由于临近购票时靠窗或靠过道的座位已售罄，购买高价机票的乘客常被分配至中间座位。这一行为有助于解释航空公司主要辅助收入之一背后的经济逻辑。除定量分析外，本研究还采用探索性方法研究了创新客舱概念及其对机上密度与舒适度的潜在影响。