idioms involving “seat”

Fly by the seat of one's pants

To use one's instincts do something difficult (without the benefit of training or experience)

“Ogawa-san is flying by the seat of her pants; she has never argued a law case in front of a judge before.”

In the driver's seat

To have control of a situation

“Please direct all questions to Yamada-san as she is in the driver's seat on this project.”

Note: The British variation is “in the driving seat”.

On the hot seat

The position of the person who is responsible and must answer for failure

“Inoue-san said the project isn't going well so she's glad she's not the one on the hot seat.”

Take a back seat

To defer responsibility or power to another person(s)

“We have other priorities this year so let's take a back seat on the finance committee.”

A seat-of-the-pants method

Doing something by instinct, not from knowledge or experience

“We were surprised but pleased that Osada-san's seat-of-the-pants method actually worked.”