A viral video from a flight that departed Denver shows an angry passenger repeatedly shaking the seat in front of him to stop it from reclining.
A nearby passenger caught it on film, showing the man behind forcefully pushing the seat back up while the person in front tries to recline and looks back in shock. A flight attendant steps in to deescalate the situation, explaining to the upset passenger that the person in front has the right to recline their seat.
To be clear, you are allowed to recline if your seat reclines (except during takeoff and landing, when you’re instructed by crew to be in a full upright position for safety), and seat recline can be important for comfort especially 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
However, there is an etiquette to exercising your right to recline:
- 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).
- Let them know you’re going to recline, and do it gently. That helps keep this from happening:
@Delta small note for the suggestion box, maybe have a little warning sign or someway to prevent my laptop from being destroyed when the person in front of me reclines their seat. pic.twitter.com/QHmphXiDhH
— Pat “Beave” Cassidy (@HardFactorPat) February 26, 2020
If you don’t want the passenger in front of you to recline, politely ask them not to. And if they want to recline and you don’t want them to, consider whether it’s worth your while to make not reclining worth their while. Many years ago all it took was $5 (offered with a parent’s permission) for me to convince a child seated in front of me not to recline so that I could work effectively on my laptop.
The product you’re buying in a standard coach seat usually does not offer very much space. Keep in mind that both Southwest Airlines and JetBlue offer more space than United, Delta, or American. Not all airlines are the same! And many international airlines offer more space in coach than U.S. airlines do.
By the way here’s an unethical so-called ‘hack’ that is less violent than shoving the seat in front of you, but is 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
Ultimately you need to buy the space that you need, 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.
(HT: Johnny Jet)
I never recline and I ask the person in front of me to limit theirs. I try not to resort to this sort of shoving, but frankly, it can be justified at times.
Swap seats. If the guy in front wants to recline and the guy behind is bent out of shape by that then swap seats.
I couldn’t agree more. When you buy an Economy seat, it comes with an implied set of rules for appropriate behavior. You’ve bought one seat. That does not give you or anyone the right to control two. By definition, they’re not very comfortable and certainly not spacious. Want to be able to be (mostly) recline abuse free? Pay up and buy F. If you don’t have the manners and personal decorum to behave appropriately, you should not be permitted to board.
I’d wait until off the flight and out of federal jurisdiction, then pound the little pissy seat shaker bloody.
So the age-old argument… I don’t get to use my laptop because you’re going to be the only one in the entire cabin to recline? (Yes, this has happened).. if you can’t stop from reclining on a flight less than 2 hours, then find another way to travel. .
I’m about the same size as the angry guy. This is why I play the status and miles games, but in the 1/4 of cases I do find myself in a regular economy seat I just handle it. I know what I paid for, this kind of suffering is a part of the package.
Based on the animated nature of the convo with the FA, there’s probably more to this story than someone merely objecting to a seat being reclined.
Back in the days when the seat pitch on the plane was more generous, reclining the seat was not that big a deal. These days, however, with the Airlines ever shrinking the space it can be a problem. If the Airlines are going to continue squeezing more seats on their planes, then maybe it is time to fix the seats so that they cannot recline.
One time I had some critical work to do on my laptop, and the guy in front of me reclined. I asked him politely not to, and he complied. When the FAs came around with the food cart, I told them whatever he wanted – food, drink – was on me. He got a sandwich, which I was happy to pay for.
I like what Southwest has done to remedy this – all of their seats only recline 3 inches max. This should be mandatory on ALL airlines.
I simply don’t buy the claim that a reclined seat prevents the back passenger from using their laptop unless it is a much oversized laptop in which case it is still the computer user’s fault. In any event the front passenger has every right to recline except when landing, taking off and at meals. Sounds like a male Karen to me.
The Karen should fly Spirit. Your seat has the option to decline. Sorry but the airlines have seats in coach so tight that working on a laptop is not practical. Get your CFO to allow purchasing first so that you have room to work if you’re expected to work inflight.
It’s the airlines for creating all of this
It is well beyond time to make all seats in steerage class non-reclining. There just isn’t enough room in coach for people to recline. I was on a domestic flight recently where the person ahead of me reclined for the whole two-hour flight and I was completely confined – unable to use the tray table as intended, unable to move my knees, which were pinned firmly into the seatback of the reclined passenger. And sorry, but if you do recline in those seats, YTA. A-hole. Straight-up, 100 percent douche canoe.
Someone said by the space you need. At what point should the airlines accommodate their passengers? My wife is 5′ 1″ and has more than enough space. I’m 6′ 4″ and sometimes cannot get my knees in without pressure on them in a standard seat. At what point do airlines declare that passengers of a certain height should expect to be uncomfortable or impossible to fit in the space available on the flight? Are there any reasonable accommodations for these customers? I’ve generally been fortunate to get emergency row seating.
I can so relate to the guy who was pushing on the seat. He barely fits his legs in there and ends up with a thoughless jerk in front of him who slams his seat back. Personally, I’m often stuck behind the sole seat recliner in my part of economy and it pisses me off – because it is thoughtless and rude. It’s not 1983 anymore and a 34″ pitch is no longer standard. Now it’s closer to 30 or 31 inches. Frankly, I think that the airlines need to disable the recline function on all economy seats.
One way to absolutely not get the other person to give a hoot about reclining – kick and act like this idiot jerk. I have been previously asked – nicely I might add – not to recline and agreed. Had this happened instead that would have been war and I have would reclined just to spite the person…… would that make me a jerk, probably, but I do not reward bullying and someone acting out
Alternatively, if you have trouble with leg room pay for it – this is what I do! I am 6’5″ and barely fit into a regular seat with discomfort…..
Whenever the person in front of me reclines, I will recline my seat too!
Did the person in the video also recline his seat after the person in front of him reclined?
Ah … a disagreement for the ages.
What airline is that? Those screens look pretty big.
“I try not to resort to this sort of shoving, but frankly, it can be justified at times.” No, never.
“I don’t get to use my laptop because you’re going to be the only one in the entire cabin to recline?” I don’t get to recline because you’re the only one on a laptop?