United Passenger Snaps: Slimline Seat Smashed In Furious Onboard Meltdown

A United Airlines passenger, reportedly on a flight from Austin to Los Angeles, had a meltdown the likes of which I hadn’t seen before. He attacked his own seat on the Airbus A320.

Testing out the new lie-flat seats in United Economy
byu/smokes_weed inShittyaskflying

The required safety announcement at the start of a flight gives you instructions on using the seat belt – but doesn’t tell you how to operate the seat recline. That is usually fine, but not always!

Fasten your seat belt by placing the metal fitting into the buckle, and adjust the strap so it fits low and tight around your hips. To release, lift the face plate of the buckle.

In fairness, the United Airlines implementation of Recaro slimline seats are especially bad. A couple of hours in one of those and my back aches, which (in addition to poor wifi) is a reason I fly United very little.

Now, since we don’t actually know what set this passenger off, I think my favorite bit of speculation in comments is “I mean I miss Hemipheres as well but I think this is pretty extreme… Three Perfect Days in Jail.”

Personally I get frustrated when I board and there’s no seat back screens, too. United NEXT interior is taking much longer than promised. Sir, how do you feel about lists? I see you’d like to be on one.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. United’s latest entertainment offerings are really giving Spirit a run for their money!

  2. We have a serious mental and physical health crisis in this country but you have to go to alternative media to hear about it. Big Pharma in part has a hand in this which is why you will never see an segment on CNN or the nightly news. Airport/airplane meltdowns seem to be just about daily-just witness the endless number of Youtube videos.

    Coach seats are now as comfortable as a bench but it’s not the primary reason people are going off the wall.

  3. I have a flight from PDX to Melbourn, FL tonight, which I dread. Seats are very uncomfortable and tight, but I promise not to do the angry dance on mine. I may do a lot of deep breathing, however.
    Flying has become an awful chore.

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