Comments

1. While I recline slowly, I think telling/asking the person behind you is asking for trouble.

   I don’t see it as courtesy to tell someone. Just do it slowly.

2. Call the FA to be there as you recline and let her explain it to Karen

3. 1. I bet most of these recline stories posted by IGers and TikTokers are made up because it’s expected they always elicit a strong vocal response
   2. No need to be polite when reclining. The seats come with that functionality for a reason, and anyone sitting should expect the seat in front to recline at any time
   3. No one with lip fillers can ever be trusted

4. She’s cute and can do whatever she wants

5. Commercial air travel is War. It’s personal combat, everyone vs. everyone.

   We live in the 21st century where the legislators are captured by the pain merchants of an industry vital to OUR NATIONAL SECURITY.

   To hell with you recliners and stuff your etiquette.

   Seat recline wasn’t an issued when every airline had 36″ pitch in coach.

   The last time i was reclined on the seat hit me in the face and I saved my machine screen by a split second.

   Stuff all of your comfort long-haul mealtime etiquette.

   What’s important for MY COMFORT is the cubic volume of air recycling between my face and the non-reclined seat in front of me.

   Just another non-rule the enforcement of which is abdicated by the cabin crew and their employers.

   I also love how Gary lists options that are not universally possible solutions depending on where one is flying to and from.

   F was not available for days in any direction. I had to be home that day. MCE required an overnight AND a connection the next day for a 24-hour door-to-door. LUV was sold out unless I wanted to fly 3000 miles out of the way the following day. Frontier? Spirit? My money? Shirley.

6. also, where’s the video in question?

   the posted link goes to net trash

7. Delta’s Comfort Plus is an elevated product that offers reclining seats with extra legroom to its premium, discerning guests.

8. I just never fly economy on long haul flights.

9. Sorry, Gary, imho you’re ‘way out on the wing with this one. Just because cars are capable of going fast, and it may make some people happy, even comfortable, to do so does not give them a right to run others over.
   The unfortunate fact of economy air travel as it has been warped by the comtemporary airline industry is that THERE IS NOT ENOUGH SPACE in which to sit, eat and work comfortably in one’s own paltry couple cubic feet, even before someone decides to take “their” half out of the middle of it for the coming hour (let.alone ten, for the love of God). My advice to the self-centered would-be recliners is to grow up, sit up, and give the person stuck behind them a break.
   It was unfair to call the woman who didn’t want to be made any more miserable than the airline already had done a “Karen”, for not wanting to be run over by the “un-carin'” passenger at the controls of the seat in front of her.

10. Karen vs Karen will not end well.

11. This was a few years back, but on a flight from SFO to LHR, the guy in front of me reclined at the earliest moment then left his seat until just before landing. As we deplaned I found out he spent the flight sitting next to his buddy.
    Civility just doesn’t exist anymore.

12. I stopped flying economy a long time ago. The cost of a first class ticket is worth every penny.

13. Of course you’re allowed. Tell her to recline her seat and she’ll have the same amount of space! It’s YOUR seat!!

14. I have the right to recline. If I ever feel guilty about it, I imagine that hagbag is behind me.

15. I’ve ask the person in front of me to just give me a heads up when they recline to avoid hitting my laptop. I preface by saying it’s perfectly fine. I just appreciate a warning. Never had anyone object or say anything other than “No Problem”.

16. Airlines sell the same space to both passengers and then get their panties in a knot when the two people fight. This was caused by the airlines reducing space and they should be held accountable but of course their lobbyists won’t let that happen.

17. Please stop using the word “Karen” in your examples. They are narcissists, with no need to be.defined by sex.

18. “Whatever you do, though, don’t go all vigilante on the seat recliner in front of you…”

    That’s excellent advice! I once had a very stupid woman punch me in the top of my head for reclining my FIRST CLASS SEAT on an American Airlines flight. And when we landed in DFW, she missed her connection, because the police at the airport decided she needed to spend some time with them.

19. These GREEDY disgusting Airlines… It is their fault we pay for these crappy sardine can airplanes and we have every right to recline. Love how they throw the BS on the passengers ( and then they fight ) look to the source

20. This article is 100% wrong. The person reclining their seat MUST ask permission and the perseon behind them can absolutely deny them. Reclining is invading another’s space you have no right to. If you decline your seat without permission you should be removed from the flight and prosecuted for assault.

21. That’s a big nope for reclining from me. Blame the airline industry for cramming us all into a sardine can. My legs are too tall to sit comfortably as it is and no way I’m giving up precious legroom.

22. Have you ever tried to recline airline seats nowadays?
    They only recline an inch backwards but mostly, they don’t recline at all!
    I don’t see any reason why this is a big deal except we’re all Angry people.

23. If the seat has the option to decline then you can decline it’s pretty simple. This should not even be a discussion for anyone as there isn’t anything to discuss it’s not open for discussion.

24. We must show consideration and etiquette. There are all types of persons Selfish And unmindful on a plane It’s your luck if you land behind a mannerless fool during a long distance flight. IATA CAN SOLVE THIS RECLINING PROBLEM BY PRESCRIBING Proper seat distances in Economy which will prevent cramming of passengers in Coach class

25. The writer leaves out the best alternative.

    Just recline your seat a couple of inches, not all the way! Unless it’s a redeye flight and everyone is trying to sleep, reclining your seat all the way really impinges on the space of the person behind you, and it’s rude to just suddenly jack your seat all the way back.
    In the regular, not the wee hours, passengers will find significantly inproved comfort by simply reclining their seat a couple of inches.
    Being mindful when flying that YOU are not the only passenger is the key.

26. I would absolutely have the flight crew involved, I have an absolute right to recline when we aren’t taking of or landing, or having meal.service. NOBODY has a right to decide otherwise especially on a 10 hour flight. What sort of arrogance does she have to believe she can tell me what I can and can’t do in the seat I paid good money for. Even with reclining it’s seriously.uncomfortable, it’s medically dangerous for me to NOT recline.

27. Omg
    Again grown adults crying about something with airline travel.
    Drinks ,food, service, flight attendants, gate agents, pilots using the bathroom, now seats.
    People get a grip, like I said plenty times before the glamorous day of airline travel is far gone.
    US carriers want to get you from point A to point B with no frills.
    Some more then others.
    If traveling on commercial airlines is so bad get yourself a private aircraft and travel the way you like !!!!
    Unbelievable!!!

28. Recline your seat. Sometimes it’s a matter of comfort for the person in that seat;ie, back issues and changing positions often is a must.

29. Fantastic to wake up this cold morning to read 50%+ of the posters here with tremendous sanity in violent agreement with the key tenant of selling the same space to 2 people and the drones in DC doing nothing about it.

    @frequent50 says it best: THERE IS NOT ENOUGH SPACE!!!!!!!! GARY!!! why aren’t you tearing in to the industry for this insane reality!

    Recline has been part of commercial air travel since the move from wood cafe chairs in trimotors.

    WHEN THERE WAS 36 OR MORE INCHES OF PITCH.

    But the bastards keep shoving in row after row of the same seats and letting the police sort out the torture-tube COMBAT that ensues from the PERSONAL WARFARE IN THE AIR.

    Recline is a violation of the Geneva Convention on humane treatment of prisoners.

    That’s my story, and i’m sticking to it.

30. There’s a reason I put my noise-cancelling earbuds in after 10k… not to hear anyone else gripe.

    I recline slowly, when I recline — but will stand my ground against persons who complain.

    If there’s an altercation, I ring my call button and ask the FA to reseat me or the person behind me.

    It’s awful that airlines have pitted customer against customer for extremely limited resources. Fly on KLM (if you can) for more leg room, as the Dutch tend to be taller than other nationalities, and since KLM is a Dutch airline, they used Dutch models for seat spacing/positioning.

    I flew (ugh) coach on KLM trans-Atlantic, and was able to sleep just fine without issue, thanks to greater seat distance! (If you’re Skyteam, buy your ticket through your primary airline, i.e. Delta [006] to get miles in your native programme!)

31. Karen? Who’s Karen? Never heard of her.

32. When we travel we book the extra comfort so reclining is not an issue, that person paid for their seat same as you, and reclining is everyones right,

    If you don’t want that then upgrade your seat for more room or go to 1st class.

33. Those reclining seats usually cost significantly more money. So you bet I’m going to recline, especially on long haul flights where I need the rest. I paid for it, I’m using it!

34. First, we’re not children. Please don’t write to us that way! It reads like a bunch of rules coming from a parent. If the airlines didn’t want one to recline, or anybody else for that matter, quit putting reclining seats in coach (economy). No, I’m not going to “politely” ask the person behind me for their permission to recline. If it is included in the ticket, it shouldn’t be a matter of getting one’s authorization. Also, why can’t the people simply expect that the seat in front you might recline an inch or two? Enough said.

35. This seems to be becoming an epidemic. Was on an Air France flight last week where for the second time in about two months I had an aggressive passenger behind me who did not want me to put my seat back and instead of initially asking politely he shook my seat violently several times while I blithely ignored him. He then tapped me on the head and ordered me to put my seat up, and I told him he should ask the flight attendant to move. The flight attendant did come over and he excitedly complained to her that I was putting my seat back. The flight attendant then asked me if I would like to move to a seat in the last row of the plane (near the toilet) and I politely declined and told her that if the guy in back of me had a problem than he should move. She asked him and he declined because he wanted to sit next to his wife. I then suggested that they swap seats so that she – and not he – would be sitting behind me. Again he declined. The Flight Attendant again asked me to move and I told her that I would follow any instructions she gave me but that I wouldn’t move voluntarily to a worse seat, that he was acting aggressively and unreasonably, and that it was wrong to expect me to give into his bullying and take a worse seat. After a few minutes she told me that she found me a seat that she knew I would be happy with, instructed me to take my bag and follow her and I was led up to a (middle) seat in Premium Economy. The FA was highly professional and conciliatory throughout, and I was not really disadvantaged by the move, but I felt a bit aggrieved that she moved me instead of just shutting him down as I think most US FAs would do – and did do the last time this happened to me while flying on AA. I suppose she had flagged him as a potential problem and was just trying to de-escalate the situation so that he didn’t become more unhinged, but I think there is a countervailing interest in not rewarding bad behavior.

36. You certainly have the right to recline your seat. You also have the right to be an asshole – aka seat recliners.

37. As a 6’3″ male, I hate the seats recline. I already don’t have enough leg room and reclined seats make it extremely uncomfortable. I had an East coast tiny woman in front of me on a Paris to Boston flight and she reclined the while trip. She was a horrible person.

38. Dearest Recliners,

    show me the CoC that has the words “right” and “recline” anywhere adjacent to each other…

    show me the CoC language that addresses the “recline” function for the 3 legacy oligarchs…

    we can’t post links, so allow me to help the research process of anyone so reclined…..

    first, familiarize yourself with the the “conditions of cAAriAAge” by searching for the following:

    american conditions-of-carriage

    you can click through every link and ctrl-f search every page and the word ‘recline’ is nowhere to be found

    next, add quotation marks to maximize the accuracy of your search, and add the word recline:

    “conditions of carriage” “recline” “american”

    please report back with any findings documenting any mention whatsoever of the word ‘recline’ much less anything related to ‘rights’ associated with the word ‘recline’

    now, folks, let’s continue this malign fiesta….

    at least delta doesn’t hide behind nested looped html links and straight up publishes a full pdf which you can find by searching for this:

    dl-dgr-master-22jun23

    you’ll get the link to the .pdf, all 25 pages of it

    again, ctrl-f reveals the presence of the word “recline” as follows:

    zip
    zilch
    nada

    now, let’s complete this exercise with unicon

    they do not deign to publish the legal document in .pdf form but do put up the full html unlike american’s cowardly behavior

    you can find united’s CoC by searching for:

    “united” “about-contract-of-carriage”

    once again, ctrl-f reveals that the final score for the 3 oligarchs of deregulation is best spoken with the voice of Dean Wormer, to wit:

    Zero.
    Point.
    Zero.

    In summary, with respect to the recline function, you have no ‘rights’. Pound sand, recliners. It’s been a pleasure doing business with you this morning. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Please proceed directly to my hotels on Boardwalk and Park Place.

    Thank you for your time.

    Have a nice day.

39. Frequentflyerfor50years and Nonya, cry me a river. Not the same as speeding 50years, a much more accurate way to compare reclining an airline seat and driving a car would be to say that complaining about someone reclining their seat is like complaining that there are other cars on the road when your stuck in traffic. They have the right to recline the same as that car has a right to use that public road, even if it inconveniences you.

40. dear krod.

    no. they don’t.

    show your work.

    you can’t.

    show me the US Code that addresses the right to recline on part 121 carriers.

    show me the language in a contract of carriage that describes these mystical ‘rights’

41. Sorry, but in today’s economy cabins, reclining is not acceptable. Do not blame the passenger who wants to recline or those who do not want people in front to recline. Blame the airlines for giving us less and less freaking room. This was not an issue 30 years ago.

42. Seats should not recline. Airlines should make them not to recline

43. I must be flying the wrong planes. I can’t remember the last time I was on a plane with seats the recline more than about 1.5″.

    FWIW, I used to be firmly in the “it’s just plain rude to recline your seat on any flight shorter than 2 hours” camp (I’m Southern– we still believe in common courtesy). But since recline is now so imperceptible I don’t think it matters much.

44. I’m 6’5″ 300lbs. Most economy seats can’t recline as my legs are wedged in the seat in front of me. I can’t afford 1st class seats. Airlines should give me exit isle seats at no additional costs or the passenger in front of me moved to another seat.

45. Hey Haggard,

    Take your pompous, self-entitled attitude and shove deep inside your (probably large) glass.

    Buy a first class ticket if you can’t travel with us “poors”, you ***ing ****.

    GIT!

46. Dear Hagbard,

    Show ne the law in Part 121 that prohibits reclining.

    What a jerk.

47. Dear @hagbard celine, et. al of those who don’t believe pax in commercial scheduled aircraft have a right to decline.

    Show me the CoC that has the words “prohibit or deny” and “recline” anywhere adjacent to each other. Cant’ do it? Of course you can’t, because it’s not there.

    Show me where it says in the CoC that a passenger’s space goes from the back of the seat in front of you when the seat is in the full upright position, meaning when you recline you’re depriving the passenger behind you their defined space. Can’t do it? Of course you can’t, because it’s not there.

    Moreover, it’s an irrational assumption that pax aren’t permitted to recline considering that the airline has installed a recline button for the pax to use. It’s also irrational that a pax has to ask for permission from the pax behind them to recline, since the recline button for the seat is beside the pax in the seat, not in the seat behind them.

    Here’s the thing, the recline, even in domestic first class isn’t much of a decline, but more than that, for those of us who have serious back problems and who can’t afford more expensive tickets the recline, any recline, even the tiny recline in economy seats on US airlines is a godsend as generally the seats are positioned in the upright position to literally throw you forward which is beyond painful.

    So, you can complain, but I’m reclining because I’m not about to exit the plane bent over in a painful pretzel shape like you want me to do.

48. I would like to know if the Karen woman reclined her seat.

49. @Rpger Shady You aren’t entitled to anything you don’t pay for. Being large and tall isn’t a disability, and you have no right to any accommodation. If you can’t afford a seat that fits you, you shouldn’t fly.

50. Pretty clear here the anti-recline people have lost the argument. BTW, it is not the airlines’ fault leg room is so short. If we refused to buy it, they’d fix it. Airlines would love to have 15 percent less seats on a plane if we’d pay them 18 percent more.