A 6’8″ passenger flying Delta first class from San Antonio to Los Angeles filmed a flight attendant trying to mollify the passenger in front of him, who was complaining because he couldn’t recline. The seat back wouldn’t move because the tall passenger’s knees were already butted up against the seatback and the seat just wouldn’t move.
The lead flight attendant came over. She explained that the seat was physically blocked and she couldn’t change that. The passenger filming says this is the second time with the same guy in the same seat in front of him within 5 days, and that he previously kept trying to force the recline and it wouldn’t go.
Delta’s Airbus A319, A320 and A321 first class seats have as little as 35 inches of pitch, or the distance from seat back to seat back. That’s not more space than extra legroom coach.
Over at American, legacy US Airways Airbus A320s have just 36 inches of pitch in first class and that feels super-tight. Otherwise American’s first class seats generally offer 37 inches, which is still less than the 38-40 they used to offer before the current seating configurations rolled out. United is also mostly 37 inches (actually 36.7″ on several aircraft) though their A320s and CRJ-550s are more generous.
For an airline that claims to be premium, Delta is actually less premium with the most valuable commodity on the aircraft: real estate. It’s a throwback to the old Northwest Airlines days.
Commenters, though, seem to fall into these camps:
- “Recline is a paid feature / I’m reclining” You’re entitled to recline since the seat was designed to do it. And “tall people should book a different seat / bulkhead / exit row / don’t fly.” (Here, the passenger already booked first class, what else should they have done?)
Some commenters go fully deranged about “forcing it back,” which is simply saying that they’re fine injuring someone to win a 2-inch argument.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian has said that passengers do have the right to recline (but use discretion / ask first).
- “Reclining is rude / unwritten rule against it” Reclining is anti-social because it creates discomfort for someone behind you for very little gain. “only recline if sleeping,” “never recline on daytime flights,” “people who recline are like people who don’t return shopping carts.”
- “Neither passenger is the problem; the airline is” Delta sells a First seat that reclines but also sells a seat behind it where a tall person can’t exist without blocking it.
The problem is Delta first class just is not very nice. However, if you’re going to have such tight first class seating, install seats with articulating recline (‘cradle’).
One person wrote “If you’re 6’8 you should fly in the cockpit!!” Cockpits can be even more cramped! “Sit on the wing next time.” Ok, boomer.
The flight attendant line “I can’t make his legs smaller” though is doing most of the comedic work because it’s the blunt truth.
If Delta sells a premium seat where a core feature (recline) is unusable, Delta should offer service recovery to the affected customer who couldn’t recline in the form of miles or travel credit – rather than punishing the tall passenger for existing. This also reduces the chance of escalation by mollifying them with “you’ll be made whole after landing.”
I’m 6’6, so I have some sort of understanding of this issue. I do everything I can to get into an extra legroom seat – as did the person in this post. And sometimes, there are issues like this. I nicely tell the person in front of my that their seat will not recline – and that it can’t – before we even take off. It usually works, and there’s a joke or two about how flying sucks.
I feel for the person impacted. It’s like having a service dog (a real one) in your coach row, you don’t like it, but for the most part, you can deal with it for a couple of hours.
We’re all stuck together in a tube. A touch of looking out for your fellows would go a long way.
“ Delta’s domestic “First Class” is supposed to buy you breathing room”
Well, at 36” pitch (worse than the AA oasis “standard” across many delta fleet types) and a bulkhead designed to make your knees hate you, delta first wasn’t really designed for comfort 😉
As someone who’s a similar height, I’d be exasperated if netizens were to get on my case about something over which I have no control. Sure, I wouldn’t go out of my way to cause problems, but I similarly wouldn’t go out of my way to accommodate someone if my very existence is an issue.
I’m in the camp of – “why didn’t they trade seats”?!
Much like obese clients, overly tall passengers need to book two seats, the one in front and their own.
An entitled male Karen (or a “Dave” since I understand that is the accepted term for a male Karen). Shouldn’t need to recline on that flight in first and even if you want to how about some consideration of the passenger behind you. It isn’t all about you – which unfortunately most travelers seem to forget.
Gary – You failed to touch on the A220’s that have a PE seat in 1st class that is SOOOOO bad and tight. Oh and Delta has a TON of of the A220’s.
Recline should have the base of the seat slide forward so that the back is inclined. In fact, if a more complicated design is wanted, the seatback hinge could be at about 28 inches (I did some measuring on myself and added about 5 inches to accommodate people taller than my 75 inches) with the lower part of the seatback going forward and the upper part going backward.
First, I like that, when there is no written policy on an issue, this website’s author is now listing multiple points of view. That’s better. Unless the Contract of Carriage or airline rules cover an issue, part of the challenge is that there is NOT a clear outcome.
Personally, I’m in the “right to recline” category. If the airline gives a customer a tool, presumably it is because the airline expects the customer to use that tool…and the customer should do so responsibly (i.e., please do not break someone’s knee caps).
But, the winner is “just find a way to swap seats.” I rarely recline, and I sleep the whole flight. I’d be happy to switch in first class (but I would not switch to an option that was less than ideal in a tight, 3-across coach set-up.
@René — Respectfully, a220 is an excellent aircraft for nearly all seats, especially the 2-3 configuration in the back, excellent for couples. Sure, the 2-2 First Class is slightly narrower than a typical non-regional, narrow-body, like a 737 or a321, but, those are apples and oranges, since a220 really competes with CRJ, E190. A220 is gonna be more spacious than either of those alternatives.
I’m waiting the Delta fan to rationalize that Delta’s 35 inch first class pitch is more premium than United’s 37 inch pitch
Tall people should buy the seat in front of them, just like fat people are made to buy the seat next to them one a single seat won’t do.
Several years ago I was on an absolutely full Philadelphia to Chicago American Airlines flight in Economy where the pitch was so tight my legs were up against the seat back in front of me. The woman in the row ahead of me tried to recline and then leaned out and asked if I could move my legs elsewhere so she could recline. I apologized but said there was really no place else I could put my legs. She too called over the flight attendant who basically said, we’re all crammed in here together, she’ll just have to live with it and walked away.
I’ve had an adjacent experience.
Sitting in F on a domestic DL. Person in front of aggressively reclined. I had my laptop open. It got caught into the groove between the IFE and the setback. The screen was destroyed instantly. Spidered. Person in front of me could have cared less.
For this reason I now do anything and everything I can to get a seat in row 1. That way I never have someone in front of me in the lap and I never have to worry about my laptop getting destroyed again.
I’m a big dude – 6’3″ 294lbs. Back in my younger days, I wedged myself into coach seats with my knees jammed into the back of the seat in front of me. Can’t do that anymore. I usually fly Delta first class for the extra room, but that “extra” room isn’t as “extra” as it used to be. It’s ridiculous considering the massive ticket price difference between coach and first. If I were just one inch taller, it’d be unbearable. What are people taller than me supposed to do?
The A220-100 is much larger than the CRJ and E190 at 115′ x 115′ +/- and has an oval cabin making the “elbow room” better. The -300 is a bit longer and wider but the cabin layout is the same. With the higher cabin, a “taller than 6′” (but not by much!!) can easily walk down the aisle. I feel for the tall person and the obese person. However, they are going to run into the same problem flying as they would visiting DisneyLand, a theater or a restaurant with only booths. The tall person can’t help the “genes” that were inherited. Sometimes, the obese person has the same “inheritance”. Complaining to the flight attendant who has NO CONTOL over the the seat not working because the person is too tall. Complaining ain’t gonna help.
Why do aircraft even have the recliner feature? I never use them. At 6’3″, I find the recliner feature makes my own seat even more uncomfortable. The headrest cuts me right in the shoulderblades. And every aircraft has a different secret button that takes me half an hour to figure out.
Usually the recliner is used by short obese foreigners who use them even on take off and landing.
I’m flying on Delta Comfort class tomorrow: as usual, I’m crossing my fingers that I don’t somehow get victimized by recliner trauma, TikTok video trauma, etc.
I’m in the “right to recline” camp and do so whenever I want to, but within reason – if I realized that I was causing unavoidable distress to the person behind me, I’d refrain, and I wouldn’t be complaining to the flight attendant (what did this boor expect the flight attendant to do?)
But speaking generally, everyone’s seat reclines the same amount (within your cabin) and if the person in front of you reclines, you can recline too. Obviously if someone is especially long-legged, it may be an insurmountable issue for the person in front, and then they just need to be a decent human being and accept that they can’t recline on that flight.
6’4″ here. And I think reclining isn’t a right… But also that **airlines** need to have rows to accommodate tall people. Every time I fly to Europe or Asia, bulkhead seats are for people with babies… After that, height doesn’t enter the equation at all, and some 5’3″ person has an equal chance as I do.
Though I always try to get that seat just behind the emergency exit row, that is also not prioritized for tall people.
I have zero choice in my height. I can’t diet and exercise and remove a few inches. And I am not as tall as the people in this story!
Time for airlines to consider height and have rows specifically for people who just don’t fit in the other rows.
And ask before you recline.
If I couldn’t recline on a more than 4 hour flight I’d be upset. I do not care about the reasoning or fairness. I paid additional funds to recline. The airline owes me that seat. How they handle the person impeding me is irrelevant. Make accommodations for their issue, I have none. I fit in my seat. My seat reclines. I paid for the privilege…PERIOD.
@SarasotaFoodLover — Speaking of Sarasota, huge fan of the secondary location of the Columbia Restaurant at St. Armands. That 1905 salad rocks! They even have a little location within TPA. Yum. IYKYK.
If the seats recline, I can use it. I’m not going to ask, because I consider it rude to ask permission if I’m going to do it if you say no. I do not recline during meals, I slowly recline, and I don’t recline just to recline. If some tall pax was behind me making recline not possible, I’d say something like “Bet you never thought you’d envy someone short like I.” I’m lucky, my DL narrowbody flights are always regional jet, 737, or 757. These have 36″ or 37″ pitch. Because of this, I was unaware such stingy F pitch existed on DL.
BTW, I’m sure most here know that seat pitch isn’t directly translatable to leg room. As you can see from the picture above, those DL seatbacks are thick. I would imagine that the Y+ seats with a 34″ pitch have more legroom than F at 36″. This is, also, why you can’t directly compare historic Y seat pitch with modern. If you replace an old seat with one that’s 1″ thinner, you can remove 1″ of seat pitch with no change in legroom.
I have always worked with anybody that wanted to recline some. Even telling them how much more they can or tell them we’re out of space.
And most times the person behind me will do the same once I warn that I want to slightly recline it.
I did have one ask why the f did I want to recline in the middle of the day. Told them I usually work at nights. He said “well f me ok come on back some”
Delta is the problem here, calling something that’s worse than economy used to be first class
I think recline needs to go away unless there is room. So no recline in economy. It comes from a day when pitch was much bigger – 34 used to be considered a minimum.
Airlines need to stop selling things they can’t provide
The guy bought a 1st class seat. The only thing better he can do is charter a plane. We used to have pro basketball players get a coach seat that they couldnt get in and had their feet in the aisle.
Airplane manufacturers should build longer tubes or install less seats for more leg rooms. Are “astronauts” no longer deserved to seat comfortably?
“I do not care about the reasoning or fairness. I paid additional funds to recline.”
You paid extra to recline? I must have missed the “click here to purchase recline” box in the checkout flow.
When Northwest debuted the A320 it was 12 seats in FC and 138 in main cabin (150 total). Delta moved the rear lavatories into the aft galley, spread main cabin out to add Comfort+ and added another row of seats for a total of 157. Northwest never wanted to add more seats because 151 would have triggered having to have an additional flight attendant.
You have a right to recline up until you contact my knees. As a 6’5” individual in coach this may mean you don’t get to recline very much. I’ll be honest; I don’t particularly give a shit. I also do not recline as a courtesy to the passenger behind me. You are most likely an able-bodied adult who is capable of sitting upright.
“Why do aircraft even have the recliner feature? I never use them. At 6’3″, I find the recliner feature makes my own seat even more uncomfortable.” I’m much shorter and, likely, much older. I had a 5 hour flight on an airline I rarely use. I thought we didn’t have recline. After 3 hours, my back was killing me, which reminded me the recline release on this plane was in an unusual place. I immediately reclined the 2″ those planes had, and I immediately felt better. The medical advice is clear in support of reclining on longer flights.
Ah, so the difference between first class and economy is in First class, the flight attendant steps in to explain how solid objects work to your local retard and in economy, I have to explain to them myself that “unless you can generate enough force to shatter my femurs, your seat isn’t reclining. Please stop trying. Your pained grunts and gasps as you try to throw your blubber against the seat back are getting annoying.”