United Passenger Throws Two-Hour Recline Tantrum — Slams Seatback Into 6’7″ Man Behind Him

On Saturday, a passenger sitting in extra legroom coach (‘Economy Plus’) on the early morning United Arlines flight 1377 from Denver to Chicago repeatedly slammed his body and the seatback every few minutes for roughly two hours. The person behind him was reportedly 6’7”, and the the man behind appeared “completely unbothered.” The angry passenger apparently never just turned around and said what the problem was.

Clearly, though, they wanted more recline than the man’s height allowed, or were bothered by their knee contact with the back of their seat. So they kept un-reclining and re-reclining repeatedly. Hard. In a retaliatory manner.

A flight attendant asked the 6’7” passenger if he was okay. He said yes. And no further action was taken.

Man threw a tantrum on our 6am flight
by
u/there_was_a_mollusk in
unitedairlines

This behavior is completely unacceptable. It’s childish, disruptive, and something the flight attendant should have stopped.

“Like, what the hell am I supposed to do, become shorter?”
“Have you not seen Gattaca?”

“Should have asked the FA if they had any of the plastic pilot wings to give him, since he’s clearly acting like a child.”
“Maybe a coloring book could’ve calmed him down.”
“He’d eat the crayons.”

“Every airliner needs a brig for douchebags like this.”
“A brig would be a reward since it would probably be more comfortable than sitting in economy on a full flight.”

There are a couple of takes here, though, that I don’t quite agree with.

• Reclining is rude, and there’s an 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.” The seat reclines and that’s at the discretion of the passenger in the seat, although it’s polite to do it slowly and only when needed (and it can be needed to distribute weight especially on longer flights.

• Neither passenger is the problem, the airline is. Blame the legroom, though this is already economy plus. Truthfully, first class isn’t much more spacious. In that circumstance I’m more a fan of seats with articulating recline (‘cradle’).

The flight attendant response was too passive. Asking the tall passenger “are you okay?” is not the same as managing the cabin. Visible, repeated, shaking of rows should mean the flight attendant tells the passenger to stop, documents it, and warns that continued behavior can have consequences. Disruptive or violent behavior can lead to fines, law enforcement referral and an airline ban.