A passenger on a flight from Mexico to Manchester in the U.K. on TUI spent the entire 8 hour journey locked in a battle with the flyer in front of them. He decided that the person in the row ahead would not recline into his space under any circumstance. And he enforced that edict with his hands.
On the August 8 TUI flight, a passenger went to recline but found their seat wouldn’t move. The man behind them had become a human ‘Knee Defender’ by slamming both of his palms firmly against the seat back-and kept them there. And he didn’t let go.
He held the seatbacks for the entire flight. I think the family eventually assumed their seats were broken and gave up.
The passenger filming this says he wanted to clue the passenger in to what was happening, but every time he’d walk past them, they were asleep. I guess they didn’t need recline after all!
Ironically, that man had his own recline dispute later in the flight. When he leaned back to try to sleep, the passenger in back of him called for a flight attendant and asked them to have him sit upright. But that is not how this works!
@heyimgazza TUI can we ban people like this please? #fyp #flight #jet2holidays #tui ♬ Jet2 Advert – ✈️A7-BBH | MAN
Seat recline is important for passengers on long flights with poorly-padded seats. Recline works to distribute passenger weight and reduce back stress. Reclining is also a basic right when it’s a feature of your seat (certain airlines like Spirit and Frontier feature seats they call “pre-reclined” i.e. that do not recline).
- A passenger controls their own seat
- Airlines ban the Knee Defender device, which prevents recline – a device was designed to stop reclining. While their interest is prevent damage to the seat, they do not allow the passenger seated behind to interfere with the recline function
There is an etiquette to exercising your right to recline, though. Don’t recline during mealtime. Try not to recline unless it serves a real purpose (if it doesn’t actually benefit your comfort, don’t recline).
Ultimately you need to buy the space that you want, ask politely that passengers around you conform to norms, and if they don’t get a crewmember involved. You can also consider a Coasian solution: you each have an initial set of rights and they can impede on each other’s preferences, so find a (cash) bargain.
One of the things I like about Easyjet and Ryanair is the seats don’t recline.
Seat reclining is contagious – when I’m on a flight where the passenger in front of me has reclined, then I recline to reduce my claustrophobia from the seat in front of me all of a sudden being in my lap.
one more point: don’t SLAM recline! do not push back on your seat with all your might in one burst!
I have seen laptops damaged, and more than once had MY food sent flying because the idiot in front forgot there are people in seats behind them. ” hmm, lets see if my mid-cabin seat can recline full flat” oops sorry, I forgot there was someone 6 inches behind me .
A**hole. ‘Nuff said.
Gary, your rules and protocols are great in the abstract but often don’t work out in practice. In this particular situation the guy is just nuts. Spending that kind of effort to avoid being reclined on just seems counterproductive.
TUI Doesn’t fly between Mexico City and the UK, they are a holiday airline, and there are not many beaches around MEX
They do however fly from CUN to a lot of destinations in the UK
Seems like a ‘bad hombre’ to me…
“Ironically, that man had his own recline dispute later in the flight. When he leaned back to try to sleep, the passenger in back of him called for a flight attendant and asked them to have him sit upright.”
Ahh, so karma does exist. Or, at least the ‘golden rule.’ Treat other as…
If the seat reclines, then its ok to recline it. Period.
If the person behind doesn’t like it, tough luck.
The seat belongs to person and they can do as they choose. The screen on their seat belongs to me. And if they recline it seems like I need to push the screen extra hard and frequently in order to make it function properly.
Just as a clarification. The dude keeping the row ahead of him didn’t try to recline his seat later. The person filming him tried to recline and was asked not to by the passenger behind him. I learned this when I read the Newsweek article.
@Thumper — Ahh, so karma is dead. And, I suppose it is telling when ‘Newsweek’ is more reliable than VFTW for accuracy… sheesh. What have we become… *sigh*
As long as an airline sells a seat on a plane that they designed to recline, recline at will. This is an airline created problem resulting from the seat space squeeze. Flyers are therefore entitled to recline, period! complain to the airlines!
In the last ten years, passengers in economy class have become much more pushy against passengers in front of them using the recline function in front of them. And it’s in large part the fault of the airlines for not standing by passengers’ right to use the seat recline feature throughout the flight at cruising altitude.
It’s not that simple. This is a problem that airlines created when they started to shrinking the seatspacing to become critically narrow. When I started flying decades ago, people who reclined did not end.up in other people’s laps…
“It’s not that simple. This is a problem that airlines created when they started to shrinking the seatspacing to become critically narrow. When I started flying decades ago, people who reclined did not end.up in other people’s laps…”
And @bj00rn gets this exactly right. You have so little space as it is and here some thoughtless individual (usually 5’6″ or less) comes flying back like an ejector seat. I’ve had my knee caps bruised by these idiots. And they seem to be sociopaths who couldn’t give a crap that they just tossed your meal, bent your electronic device or bruised your arm. To that end, I sympathize with this guy. What he did may not have been the most productive action available, but I get where he’s coming from.
We both woulda made the no fly list.
It always amazes me how many people just assume the other person will be reasonable. If you wanna act like Mr Hands you better be ready to catch some.
I still remember years ago I was on a flight from SFO to LHR. The second the wheels were up the seat in front of reclined. But almost instantly, the guy got up and walked away. He didn’t return until just before landing, when he moved his seat back up to the landing position.
When we deplaned, I saw him meet up with another guy and they left. It was clear they knew each other.
To this day, I suspect he spent the whole flight sitting next to his friend.
And people wonder why common courtesy doesn’t exist anymore.
“And if they recline it seems like I need to push the screen extra hard and frequently in order to make it function properly.” True jerk behavior.