It’s the right of a passenger to recline their seat when they’re sitting in a seat that is designed to recline. Recline can be important for your back, especially with harder, less-padded seats than ever before. But there’s still etiquette here: try to avoid reclining your seat during meal times, only do it when you need it (don’t just recline by default), and consider giving warning to the person behind you if they’re working on a laptop.
There are a lot of things that are unpleasant as an airline passenger. One is how little legroom your ticket buys, though there are options to pay more money to get more space. There is a right way and a wrong way to take matters into your own hands if you’re frustrated by a reclining passenger:
- Right way: politely negotiate with the reclining passenger. It is their right, so figure out how important it is to you that they keep their seat upright and offer to pay them up to that amount.
- Wrong way: Vigilantism, like installing a ‘seat defender’ on the seat that blocks the person in front of you from reclining (airlines generally ban this product) or shoving the seat in front of you to torment the person doing the reclining.
Vigilantism is a recipe for conflict and that can lead to a plane diverting. You might get into a fight or even get arrested.
This so-called ‘hack’ is less violent that shoving the seat in front of you, but it’s still an aggression meant to get under the skin of the person reclining and can easily lead to escalation. What do you think you’re accomplishing by “turn[ing] on the air con above you at full blast and point[ing] it at their head”..?
@thelkshow The plane ride is so long when you get one of these people in front of you 🥱 #plane #reclinetheseat #annoyingpassengers ♬ Blicky – Fresh X Reckless
This is exactly what makes air travel so challenging. If you don’t like something, you get under the skin of someone trapped inside a metal tube hurtling 35,000 feet above the earth at speeds in excess of 500 miles. That never ends well.
The airlines fret about onboard arguments yet they fail to realize they are the root cause of this mess ….. uncomfortable seats, less legroom, lousy / no food, no blankets, no pillows, etc etc etc. like so many other service industries the airlines used Covid as an excuse to kill reasonably expected services. Same for hotels. Sucks to travel post covid.
As an economist, I love your Coasian approach. In this case, the right to recline, except during meal-times, is granted to the passenger in front. I wonder if there will ever be airplanes with over one third of the rows having extra legroom for a fee (I am not including business and first class, although these would also have extra legroom).
It’s amazing how much more comfortable a 32″ pitch seat is than a 29″ one. In a 32″ pitch seat, I don’t have much quibble over the person in front of me choosing to recline
Golden rule. Treat others as you want to be treated.
Diamond rule: Book only lie-flat suites with doors; never argue over reclining.
Hi Gary,
You often mention the reclining seat/seat blocker/tray table during meal service dilemma. And good, fair information and opinions. .
But….what about maybe the most annoying (and unfortunately) least chatted about subject ~
You have a child behind you kicking the back of your seat like he is training for his Black Belt in karate.
You politely mention this to the parent(s)….
They simultaneously give you a weak nod and roll their eyes at you.
They say nothing to the child who proceeds to kick the back of your seat for the next 2 hours…or until landing, whichever comes first.
Do you risk saying something to the FA…who may very likely not be on your side (especially if they have a child of similar age) and may actually find your request offensive?
“Well sir, it is just a child…be patient,
flying is difficult at their age” (Blah, blah, blah))
For recliners that cause me pain, I return the favor. I sometimes ask for less recline but I know that many people don’t care. Asking is often useless. Pushing the seat back into my knees allows me to give a free knee to kidney massage (and message). Almost everyone that has had this contact has moved their seat up at least some although it will often take some time. Once that is done, I don’t reposition to continue the knee massage. I do not fly on the airlines that have a tight seat pitch in coach for the most part but sometimes it cannot be helped.
The seat back kickers can be dealt with much of the time. I am a big guy. If a silent glare between the seats doesn’t work, then getting up and glaring at the kid over the seat usually does. Never say a word but look fierce. Again I repeat, never say a word even if someone wants to start a conversation. Talking can give away your intent and your response to further seat kicking. A kid knows that you can reach him or her well before the parent can intervene. Your words could be used against you in court.
Just like it’s your right to recline, it’s my right to adjust my air nozzle anyway I want.
Gary Leff says, “There are a lot of things that are unpleasant as an airline passenger.”
I say, “There are a lot of things that are also unpleasant, such as no first-class pre-departure beverages on the six-hour forty-minute 8:00 A.M. non-stop flight from Boston to Los Angeles on American Airlines flight AA 1243.
The future of air travel is non-reclining seats.
Sitting upright, like a grown-up, needs to be a thing again.
If legroom deficit disorder bothers you to the point that you want to go vigilante, buy first class or international business like I do. If you can’t afford it, work harder.
I had the idea for this patent after someone reclined their seat while I was working on my laptop many years ago.
https://patents.justia.com/patent/7333323
@jns – Ah, so it was YOU behind me on that awful BA flight back in 2011! If so, you’ll recall that I did not relent. Kept that seat fully reclined until you gave up. It was totally worth the discomfort, too.
I don’t miss flying economy.
I have never been to Europe. Having long legs is not a choice so no giving up.
Reclining their seat into my paid for space is NOT their “right” – and it is my right to remove them from my space.
Sorry, just because a seat can recline doesn’t mean it has to be reclined; same logic as just because an a/c vent can be pointed towards the person in front of you, it doesn’t have to be pointed at them.
I am tired of reading about people who must recline because they have back issues. If they are so infirm, choose an alternate form of transportation, there are several. If the person in front of me invades my space, anything goes, that includes pointing as many a/c vents in their direction on full blast as possible. If they don’t like it, they can sit up; like other commentors have stated, sit up like a grown up.
Used to use the seat defenders but I find the JNS kidney massage method is more effective. Also slamming the tray table up and down (which is frequent).
I like the air jets but reserve that for neighbors with influenza or bowel gas
Blasting the overhead air on a reclining passenger is how some disgruntled passengers express their malcontent by using a nonverbal “blow me” message.
@ David R. Miller – Actually, it’s the other way around. Seat recline is frequently listed as a feature of the hard product by major airlines. The recline space therefore belongs to the person in front of you during that flight and they literally paid for it as advertised. It is not your space at all.
I’m with @jns. I’m 6’4″ and try to buy/obtain seats with more legroom but sometimes there’s no viable option. My knees have nowhere to go so the person reclining (and let’s be honest, most people couldn’t care less about you) gets them in their back. It’s not malice, just math.
@Ken A — Ugh. And it was delayed like 30-40 minutes. Is that a321 a ‘T’ or just a regular aircraft? Would like to think AA treats folks on transcon better, but wonder if BOS gets deprioritized.
“There are a lot of things that are unpleasant as an airline passenger. One is how little legroom your ticket buys, though there are options to pay more money to get more space.” With a few lopas as exceptions, airlines offer pax a seat with excellent legroom at a historically fair price. They also give you an option to get a worse experience for some (sometimes quite high) savings. Your $s, your choice. Please stop this, “it’s unfair I get hamburger at hamburger prices, even though I could buy steak!”
The future (outside ULCCs) is a seat that moves the base forward for “recline.” And, I’m firmly in the “I have a right to recline” group. Ask people in the know, it is better for our backs (and, no, my back is fantastic for my age). A recent 5 hour NZ A320 flight (all Y seats, and thin ones at that) was unbearable from about hours 2 to 4. Then, I discovered there actually was a recline mechanism located in an unusual place. The last hour was way better.