A frequent flyer on Reddit asks whether they’re a jerk for reclining their seat. As background, they’re 6’3″ and in first class, and they try to be polite – making sure the person in the seat behind them “doesn’t have a laptop out… then slowly recline[s their] seat back.” And they still wound up in a hostile encounter with a passenger when they did it. They gave in the first time, and kept their seat straight, until after the meal when a flight attendant gave them ‘permission’ to try again.

This flight was about 4.5 hours cross the US, and within 20 seconds of reclining back, dude taps me on the shoulder and says “Raise your damn seat.” Genuinely surprised, I moved it up to appease the guy, but called over the flight attendant and told her that I intended to move it back after meal service and asked her to give the guy a heads up. She reassured me that’s my prerogative, so I didn’t worry about it.

After meal service, did my routine and reclined the seat. Dude taps me again and says “I asked you to move your seat up, man.” I turn and say, “You’re welcome to talk to the flight attendant about it.” He called her over, and she reiterated that I was entitled to recline my seat.

AITA for reclining my first class airplane seat?
by u/skyhawk3485 in AmItheAsshole

This guy was totally reasonable. The passenger behind him was not. But when you fly commercial you’re thrown together with people from all sorts of backgrounds, with different cultural contexts and expectations, some of whom are even having bad days. It’s small-d democratic even in first class, which hasn’t been the province of the wealthy in forty years (before the collapse of business travel during the pandemic, it was mostly middle managers).

But let’s not forget that airlines have been cutting legroom in first class not just coach! American Airlines 737s used to offer 40 inches of pitch, the distance from seatback to seat back. That was cut to 38 inches by pre-merger American Airlines management, and current US Airways management offers first class with just 36 inches between seats. That matches Delta.

However seat recline is important for passengers on long flights with poorly-padded seats, and American’s first class seats aren’t as well-padded as they used to be either. Recline works to distribute passenger weight and reduce back stress. Reclining is also a passenger’s right.

• The seat is designed to recline (except on certain airlines like Spirit and Frontier)
  
• A passenger controls their own seat
  
• Airlines ban the Knee Defender device, which prevents recline – a device was designed to stop reclining and airlines wouldn’t allow it (though largely to prevent damage to the seat)

That’s not true everywhere. In China a passenger who reclined a train seat without telling the person behind them first was ordered to pay $475.

In the U.S. there’s no government enforcement of courtesy, but in an environment surrounded by masses of people it’s nice to pretend no one else exists. It’s even better to take politeness into account. So there is an etiquette to exercising your right to recline.

1. Don’t recline during mealtime.
   
2. Try not to recline unless it serves a real purpose (if it doesn’t actually benefit your comfort, don’t recline).

If someone is reclining their seat, and you’re trying to work, the trick is to use the seat behind you as a standing desk.

guy on my 5 hr. flight has been using his seat as a standing desk pic.twitter.com/24UTaQz43n

— High Yield Hairy Balls (@nycdouche_) February 22, 2023

But if you don’t want the passenger in front of you to recline, the correct approach is to politely ask them not to. And if they want to recline and you don’t want them to, seek a Coasian solution. Offer them money not to recline.

I once paid a child (with their parents’ permission) not to recline on a Cleveland – Los Angeles flight so that I could work on my laptop. It was the best $5 I could have spent.