What are an airplane's cockpit and cabin like?

In a modern commercial jet, the flight deck is a room about two meters wide with two seats, the captain's on the left and the first officer's on the right, and a center console between them. In front of each pilot are two displays: the primary flight display, showing attitude, speed, altitude and heading, and the navigation display, showing the route and weather. In the center, other displays show engines and systems and warn of any failure. On the pedestal are the throttle levers, flap handle and the flight management system keypads, where the route is programmed. Overhead, the upper panel groups fuel, hydraulics, electrics and pressurization. Airbus is flown with a sidestick and Boeing with a control wheel; on both, the autopilot is set from the panel below the windshield. Since 2002 the door has been armored and locks from inside.

Behind that door, the passenger cabin is a pressurized tube at a cabin altitude equivalent to 2,400 m (8,000 ft), or 1,800 m on the 787 and A350, with regulated temperature and air fully replaced every two to three minutes. Seats are certified to withstand 16 g in an impact, overhead bins are designed not to open in turbulence, and emergency exits allow the full aircraft to be evacuated in 90 seconds with half of them blocked. Galleys, lavatories and folding crew seats are placed next to the doors.

Both cabins share a fuselage but follow different logics: the cockpit is defined by the manufacturer and certified by authorities down to the last switch; the passenger cabin is configured by each airline within certification limits. That's why two outwardly identical aircraft can look different inside and be exactly the same in front of the armored door.