Is reclining your seat on an airplane rude?

In My Humble Opinion
181

I’ve seen it done and I’ve done it myself, and 've flown rather less often than you.

It hasn’t been totally rare in my experience by any means.

Inconsiderate asshole: slams his seat back and doesn’t give a shit if he just smashed into someone’s legs, and gets pissy if he feels knees in his back.

Considerate person: checks behind to make sure there’s reasonable space, looks for a compromise.

We’re all being crammed into these stupid airplanes. Why not admit that other people deserve the same consideration for their personal comfort as you do? Last I checked, reclining seats do not have only a fully upright and a fully inclined setting. You could, you know, put it somewhere in the middle. Why is that so hard?

182

I like the communication idea.

I think what I’ll do my next trip home, is seat myself and ask the person behind me to let me know when I start encroaching on his/her space.

As I said, I usualluy don’t recline at all, but I’be been a bit stuiff in the nexk lately and I have one of those circular cushions I wanna try.

Maybe the person in front of me will pay me the same courtesy.

Q

183

They have the exact consideration I do. They can recline their seat. I put the seat into the position that is most comfortable for me. That will usually be fully reclined, but maybe not.

184

Lufthansa’s seat pitch is 32 inches and seat width is 17.5. I don’t see me needing all of those 32 inches, and if I get a window seat, I can scrunch up so I can sleep, since it will be a night time flight.

My only problem’s going to be these 58 year old kidneys and the fact that I’m on a diuretic.

Wonder if they would just let me camp out in the john? :smiley:

185

I have a small notebook (14") and couldn’t use it on a recent flight once the person in front of me reclined. I tried angling the keyboard up towards my chest for a while, and then tried sitting sideways and balancing it on the armrest and part of the fold out tray (my 8-year old son was in the seat next to me so I could do that up to a point) but in the end it just became too uncomfortable.

There are courtesies one can hope for, but that we aren’t necessarily entitled to. I don’t think I have the right to ask the person in front not to recline, but I choose not to do so myself out of consideration to whoever is behind me, unless, as I said earlier, it is official ‘lights-out’ time on a long haul flight and it is understood that people are going to be trying to sleep.

186

WRT to the computer thing…aren’t they often referred to as laptop computers? As in, computers the user can comfortably set on their lap to use?

And before anyone pulls out the “it’s too hot!” thing, I say A) if you’re wearing long pants and it’s too hot, you need a better fan, and B) so stick a magazine or two between lap and you. Problem solved.

187

I am 6’4" and while I am not large or particularly bulky, I have broad shoulders, broad thighs and long legs to the knee. If you’ve actually taken a look behind you and still recline your seat on the 12 hour overnighter, I will garotte you, bitch.

I very rarely have this problem, but when it happens, I get very aggressive. The airplane is very hot, the cooling rarely if ever works on the only airline doing this route for under $2000, I am irritated at having my day rhythm fucked up and my sleeping aid taken away at the airport. I will get up, move to the side of your seat, lean down to your ear and in an excruciatingly pleasant and polite voice ask you if you could please adjust your seat until you no longer feel the pressure on your back. Thank you.

If not, we will be having a long, audible and yet still so very, very calm conversation of the benefits of not being a sack of ballsweat. The benefits which include, amongst other things, not having soft drinks slowly and randomly drip-drip-driped down your neck and into your hair while you sleep. Me not accidentally jamming my cane between your knees while you are on your way down the stairs upon landing. Me not positioning my glasses and my maglite in the hope that your hair will catch fire. Me not deciding to vent ozone unto your skin, hopefully leading to a very painful skin rash when it reacts with your skin’s oiled surface and the bad cabin air.

(I actually will have the “I would greatly appreciate it if you did not recline your seat further when you start feeling resistance, because you are approaching the limits of the lack of comfort I will endure on a twelve hour trip” talk with the guy in front of me, if I think he or she looks inconsiderate enough. I.e., wears a suit.)

188

I wonder what percentage of inconsiderate recliners are men? I’m guessing 100%. This “right to recline all other needs of anyone else” nonsense is such a testosterone thing. It makes me ashamed for my gender.

For those not in the know: if someone reclines their seat into your knees, reclining your own seat actually doesn’t help that particular problem. Reclining the seat lowers your head and neck mainly, not your knees.

189

I wonder if all these people who are essentially saying “I don’t care if you are uncomfortable because my slightest comfort trumps all of your uncomfortableness” are that badass on the plane or they are just e-gangsta. I am betting e-gangsta.

190

To me, you define rude. If I pay for football tickets, there is nothing to stop me from yelling insults and booing any play that doesn’t go perfectly. Nor is there anything keeping me from standing up the whole game, even if some little old lady behind me can’t see and can’t stand for four hours. It would be rude by any reasonable standard, but not by your logic, I paid for my space and I’m using it, so I guess that’s all ok.

You are also inconsiderate. Inconsiderate does not mean doing something illegal. It means doing something, regardless of any concerns for your fellow human. Consideration means to make allowances for what other people are going through. Most of the time, most people on the airplane are flying because they have to. If I refused to fly, I would lose my job. No one I know can afford to upgrade to first class every flight, so I’m stuck there in cramped coach with inconsiderate you.

My knees touch that pouch as soon as I sit down. You put your seat back less than one inch, it will hit my knees. If I move my knees to the side, and you put your seat back further, I’m totally screwed. So, sorry, it is not “Hate the game, not the player”; it is “Hate the game, and the player.”

191

Reading this thread (at least the first two pages) it seems to me that there are essentially two dominant schools of thought when dealing with the air travel/reclining issue. One is that of the folks (generally taller) who never recline and can’t imagine how anyone could be so rude. The other is from those who generally will recline without remorse, and, with no ill-feelings whatsoever, expect the person in front of them to do the same.

It seems the taller folks don’t recline because they have firsthand knowledge of the discomfort it causes while those of shorter or average stock, as it’s not such a big issue for them to be behind a recliner, don’t consider it a problem at all. This doesn’t make them rude or inconsiderate (on its own anyway), just woefully ignorant of the plight of the taller human. I don’t consider the behemoth who sits in front of me in a movie theater rude, per se’, they’ve just never had to deal with a giant head in the middle of their screen so it’s not something they typically concern themselves with. I wouldn’t think to ask them to go sit in the back because they happen to be taller than average. Taller people have a right to good seats too. I might ask (nicely) if they wouldn’t mind slouching slightly, or sitting a bit to the leftish so I can see. Likewise, the altitudily (it’s totally a word, look it up… no wait, don’t but trust me, ok?) average folks likely aren’t being purposefully inconsiderate by reclining, they’ve just never had to deal with smashed kneecaps and other tallguy related airline inconveniences. They feel they have a right to a more comfortable seating position, same as everyone else on the plane.

For the record, I belong to the recline and let recline philosophy. My belief is that I paid for an airplane seat with a reclining feature and, by extension, the right to make my ride, well, not exactly comfortable, but a lesser degree of torturous. The person in front of me did the same, and has the same rights. The three inches behind his were purchased with his airline ticket, just as the three inches behind mine belong to me. If someone behind me asked me nicely not to recline for whatever reason (hasn’t happened yet), I likely wouldn’t, my understanding being that I would be courteously allowing him the use of my three inches to ease the discomfort of an unfortunately oversized fellow rider. It is by no means his right, nor is it mine to expect the person in front of me to spend the next however many hours at a 90 degree angle out of the goodness of his heart. If I chose to comply with the tall person’s request, it would be a courtesy on my part not to recline, not an expectation on his that I wouldn’t. But if I happened to have a back issue during that particular flight (I do sometimes) and needed that 3 inches to avoid a flare-up, I feel I would have every right to it. I paid for it, after all, just as you paid for the right to recline your seat if you feel the need. If nobody mentioned anything to me, back I went.

Granted, I never did fly all that much, though now it looks like I’m going to start (we just opened up a clinic in India where I currently am and will make frequent trips back and forth from the US) Before reading this thread, I had the understanding that everyone felt the same way. I figured everyone on the plane knew that reclining was more comfortable (IMO much) and therefore the standard. I never once thought that reclining my seat might be considered rude by the person behind me, just as I never felt that the person in front of me was rude for reclining his. Granted, I’m 5’10" and I don’t have abnormally long legs so it was never a huge issue for me. Of course, if given my druthers, I’d prefer those extra three inches for myself, but as I said earlier, they belong to the fellow in front of me to use as he would like. Reading this thread, I can see how this is a logistical problem for taller passengers. Admittedly (embarrassingly), I’ve never even considered this. I will in the future.

And the whole pepper/air conditioner/book on head thing is just childish and could possibly result in a casually dropped hint to an airline attendant that you may have an explosive device strapped to your underwear (insert penis joke here). At the very least, it should make for an entertaining conversation. :smiley:

192

What if we are flying during regular business hours. I see no reason why I have to be uncomfortable because you fail to sleep during regular sleeping hours.

You forgot, if you can’t read a magazine because the seat is back too far, don’t do that. Do nothing but what you give me space to do, which is sneezing or spitting on your head. Ok.

Are you so self centered that you’ve never noticed that there are no lap tops that small. And that, yes, your seat is in the way of a book or magazine on my lap. I guess I could rest it on your head.

I thought Dawson was bad, but you are the worst. I really hope I meet you on an airplane someday. I’ll be the guy next to you, stuck in the center because my company decided I should take some trip at the last minute. I pull up the armrest, just because it does go up and I’m entitled to my space. My shoulders will already be in your space, because I’m not a little guy, but I see no reason for your comfort to trump mine, after all, as a last minute flyer, I’ll have paid more for my seat. Then I’ll find some poor mom stuck with a baby, and I’ll put all the poopy diapers in the space next to you, because that space is there for a reason, and I paid for it.

193

No, there isn’t space even for that. I’ve tried it.

I should say, it depends on the airline. American is not bad. United Express is the worst. I’ve literally sat with my knees six inches from my nose, because my small carryon had to go under my feet. On that flight, there was no question of the guy in front of me reclining. It was physically impossible no matter how big he was.

194

Reading a few other posts (dawson and Uzi, I’m looking remorsefully in your direction) it’s painfully clear that some people are just plain rude. You have the same idea as me (that you paid for the space to recline) though you feel that it’s within your moral right to use that space regardless of the situation. If the tall, broken patella-ed individual behind you doesn’t like it, he can jus’ giiiit oowwwt [/South Park].

While you did pay for that space, decent human courtesy would suggest that if a taller person behind you is going to be obviously injured or grossly inconvenienced (yes, we’re all inconvenienced by the cheap airline’s cost-saving innovations but some more than others) and asks you politely, that you make the concession. No, it is not the tall person’s right to have that space, but in this situation, he needs it more than you. If you were sitting on a bus and an elderly lady in a back brace got on and asked if you could give up the last available seat so she wouldn’t have to spend the ride in agonizing pain, you’d honestly tell her “I paid the same as you for this bus ride and it’s my RIGHT to have this seat! You should’ve just rented a limo if you were in so much pain and wanted to sit!” :confused:

Seriously, grow up brother.

195

And the armrest thing is completely non-negotiable. It stays down. Period. There is no reason for you to put it up, ever. No way can it possibly make you that uncomfortable, and under no circumstances should you take it upon yourself to spontaneously raise it. If you want it up, please ask nicely. I will just as nicely reply that I’d much prefer it down for a great many reasons. This one should be common knowledge.

196

Apology accepted, thank you.

As for this:

So, you are of the school of thought that I should be uncomfortable and totally unable to sleep for 12 hours, overnight, so that you can be comfortable the whole time. I know - you’re going to say that you are so much more uncomfortable than I am, but how can you know that? I am willing to compromise - but a lot of people in the anti-recline camp don’t seem like they’re interested in compromise, they just want to get what they want.

Also, if this is an overnight flight, the person in front of me is almost guaranteed to recline. So, he has his maximum room, you (behind me) have your maximum room, and what, I’m just supposed to accept that I’m getting screwed here in the middle? Sorry, not going to happen. You can talk your ‘aggressive’ talk to the flight attendant, and perhaps the TSA upon landing, if you insist on threatening me.

197

The old lady on the bus is more like the recliner - reclining tends to relieve back pain. This scenario is easily seen in reverse - if asked the person in front of you to cease their reclining action, and they explained to you that they were in pain from their back or that they had been awake for 30 hours flying and desperately needed sleep, would you say “I paid the same as you for this plane ride and it’s my RIGHT to have this 3 inches! You should’ve just rented a private jet if you were in so much pain and wanted to use the recline!”

Grow up yourself - it cuts both ways.

198

The threat was more of an evocative expression of the annoyance of people who completely lack the common courtesy to consider other people. I have spent so many hours in buses behind teenaged girls who tip their seats all the way back despite polite requests, all-night train travels in cramped cars and skimpy airliners, but I still haven’t forgotten the common fucking courtesy of adjusting my desires against the discomfort it would bring others.

By any airplane standard I have travelled with for the last six years, you reclining will put me in acute physical pain. With my lower back pressed to the back of my seat, my feet in a wide angle and my legs bent forward and down at the knee, my knees are still solidly touching the seat in front of me. And that’s in the horizontal position. Reclining your seat will only be physically possible by pushing the bones of my legs into my pelvis.

And I am sorry, I know I came off as pushy and aggressive in the previous post, but in reality I have let this slide every goddamn time it’s happened without getting physically nasty towards my co-passangers.

However, I am physically and spiritually apalled that people here appear to think that what their goddamn money, which I don’t give a flying shit about, bought them the right to ditch common goddamn courtesy. I can’t imagine such people having been raised, well, at all.

If you have back pains, of course I will go a long way to accomodate you. Starting by asking the flight attendant to let me change places with someone who won’t actually be crippled by your injury and in the end probably just sucking it up, but I’d expect you to inform me and politely at that. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but I have a back injury and need to recline to alleviate it. Do you think you could ask the flight attendant to change seats with someone else?” would be perfectly cromulent and even if that turned out not to be possible, well at least you tried being reasonable about it so I’d probably just suck it up and take my pent-up pain out on a punching bag at the gym.

199

You know, we tall people tend to have back problems, too. Reclining the seat does next to nothing. For about a let less than a first class seat, you can buy a back support seat that you can carry on with you. It works a lot better. And you wouldn’t come across as so immaturely self-centered.

200

The comfy chair summed up what I have been thinking while reading this thread. I never thought about people thinking it inconsiderate or rude (I’m 5’1"). I always thought that, even though the seats are cramped, the mechanism was such that you wouldn’t hit the person sitting behind you in the knees. As I picture it, the person would have to be reclining almost horizontally! Which doesn’t happen in many coach areas. Seriously, reclining all the way (most of the time) gives me 3-4 inches difference. And yes, I’ve had the people in front of me recline. I don’t even notice it and I use my little table all the time.

Will I keep on doing it? Yes, unless someone politely asks me not to. Or does something from preventing me to recline my seat back (has happened).

BTW, I recline because the seat at 90° hurts my back. And I’m female.