I have take 5 different flights within the past week. On 3 of them, the person in front of me reclined his or her seat fully and without warning and kept it there for the duration. This felt like quite the invasion of personal space and a wonderful example of dickish behavior.
I considered politely speaking up, but I felt like I was on shaky ground since the airlines obviously allow reclining (although some are removing this option). But plopping the back of your seat in my lap is, to me, is a bold act of selfishness and arrogant discourtesy.
(For the record, I am aware of the Knee Defender, which is prohibited by virtually all major airlines).
He reclined all the way? The whole two inches? Bastard!
Seriously, it is not an intrusion. It is barely noticeable. It’s not like his head was in your lap. Demanding the same personal space on an airliner that you would in any other, less restricted environment is just selfish. Relax, have another beverage.
Were you aware the plane was selling reclining seats to all the passengers when you bought your ticket?
If so, then you have no issue, you signed up for this. There are roomier seats available at extra cost if it REALLY makes a difference to you.
Airlines make seats recline because it ensures some, if not most, passengers will sleep. Believe me, the airlines are much more invested in that than even the passengers. Imagine a flight where no one sleeps, that would be a nightmare for the carrier and crew.
If you still wish to complain, about reclining seats, or the cost of roomier seats, feel free to take it up with the airline. They alone have the power to change this.
But do not behave as though it’s the other passengers fault that you’re unhappy with the arrangements. Taking it out on the people around you, is petty and immature. They didn’t decide on the seating style. And they paid for reclining seats.
If I’m on a three flight path to the other side of the world I should not be expected to sit up stock straight to accommodate you. That’s a most unreasonable expectation and will only lead to disappointment.
I do not need your permission or approval to recline my seat.
psssttt…didja know that you can recline your own seat, too?
And that makes you parallel to the seat in front of you.
Now, since this is the Dope, we will be glad to fight ignorance of geometry:
Euclidean geometry is based on the concept called a plane.
You were sitting in a plane.
In mathematics, the difference between two elements is referred to as the Delta.
Many flights in the US are Delta.
According to Euclid’s axioms, parallel lines in a plane never touch.
Ergo, the Delta–i.e the distance between the two seats, remains constant both for the entire length of the line, and the entire length of the flight.
Now, to complicate the math: in Euclidean geometry,-i.e. plane geometry, the shortest distance between two points is a staight line. Within your plane, this theorem remains true.
But outside your plane, well…your flight does not obey Euclidean geometry , because the earth is a sphere.
So, in order to the ride in your plane more comfortable, you need to shorten your flight time through non-Euclidean space…
This is best accomplished by two quick shots of Jack Daniels.
While I agree that courtesy calls for a slow-and-gentle reclining of your seat so as not to surprise the passenger behind you or crush anything he may have on his tray table, the mere fact of the passenger in front of you reclining is not an invasion of personal space; it’s just how air travel works, sort of like riding the subway at rush hour means I end up rubbing asses with a bunch of strangers and don’t get at all bothered by it. With a few notable exceptions (e.g. in front of exit rows), the ability to recline your seat is built into passenger aircraft, and the privilege to do so is supported by the airlines. You may dislike it, but any rage toward the passenger in front of you who slowly-but-fully reclines his seat back is entirely misdirected.
First class seats should provide enough room so that this isn’t a problem.
If you’re not that rich (I’m certainly not), consider “economy comfort plus”, or whatever other airlines call the seats near the front of the economy class cabin with longer seat pitch. Alternatively, pay a few bucks extra for a seat in an exit row; the seats in front of the exit row generally do not recline.
If you’re wondering about any particular seat on any particular flight, consult www.flightguru.com; punch in your flight number, and you can learn the details of any specific seat.
I boarded a flight last month on one of those regional jets with the one seat on one side of the aisle and two seats on the other side of the aisle, labeled as such [A aisle BC].
As I boarded the plane with my boarding pass for seat 5B, I noticed that the passenger in 5C was already in her seat. She was obese, had the armrest between our seats lifted up and spilled over into about 1/3 of my seat. I looked around and noticed this was a full flight, so asking for another seat was out of the question.
I settled into my seat, having to lean over slightly into the aisle. There was no putting down the armrest, as there was not room. Her hips and thighs were completely pressed into me. I endured the 1 1/2 hour flight reading my book and listening to music. There was no first class option or economy plus option for this flight due to it being the class of plane it was.
I’m pretty sure I was much more inconvenienced than the OP, yet I quietly endured it.
You should have put your hand on his face, messed with his hair, used his head as a table, but not before asking him to put his seat back up. Just because something’s allowed doesn’t mean you should do it, and reclining seats are the adult equivalent of “I’m not touching you! I’m not touching you!”
I think we can acknowledge that air travel is just generally awful, and airlines do very little to make it more palatable if it will cost them any amount of money. However, I have noticed that Delta Airlines in particular has gone to the practice of adding a couple of extra rows on their Airbus fleet planes, which means that the rows are so close together than when the seat in front is reclined there is often as little as 12 inches of space between my nose and the back of the seat in front, making it almost impossible to read or do any work on the fold-out table.
As far as flying business or first class, when I did enough travelling to get reduced or free upgrades it was great, but airlines have been reducing these programs so much that unless you flying multiple times a week you won’t get to this point in their program, and the company I currently works for goes apeshit if they see an upgrade even if free or paid for by the employee. They also insist that employees take the absolutely cheapest flight possible, even if it is only a $5 savings between Southwest Airlines and Earfuck Express, which necessitates some clever manipulation of schedules and justifications to ensure that I will get on a flight that will a) serve actual beverages rather than toliet water, b) will leave and arrive on time from and to a major hub without three intervening legs, and c) won’t leave a trail of parts on the runway or creak like your grandfather’s 1974 Buick LeSabre.
Given that reclining gives you almost nothing in terms of horizontal support for a passenger’s head or lower body and only serves to further reduce the paltry amount of personal space enjoyed by the passenger behind, there is really no reason to permit it. When I’m on a commercial flight but feel like I’m shoved asshole to elbow as if I’m riding in a fucking Twin Otter on my way to a jump, something is just not right. But then, from what I can tell, there is really no reason that 95% of these fuckwits I see on planes have any need to go anywhere, especially since the spend most of their time texting on their phones in flight and playing annoying games or videos with the sound turned all the way up.
God, I hate people. Practically all of them. The apocalyptic nuclear holocaust cannot come soon enough.
Do different airlines have different amounts of recline? I usually fly Southwest and generally don’t notice too much when people recline. When I last flew on another airline (American?), the person in front of me reclined and their seat went so far back I was almost looking at the top of their head.
I can usually use my laptop on the tray table on SW, but on this other flight the seat came so far back that would have been impossible.
I was on a long flight home from Vienna. The woman in front of me was able to recline her seat all the way back, but I was in the last seat and couldn’t recline at all. The woman’s head was all the way into my lap. I asked her to turn her head so she could suck my dick.
What airline are *you *flying on? Once I was on a daytime flight from Paris to D.C. and the dick in front of me reclined his seat all the way back the whole flight, except during meal service. I could not use the tray table to write, I could not use my laptop, I could barely read a book, and his seat was pressing against my knees most of the flight.
It’s called a “daytime flight.”
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I do not need your permission or approval to recline my seat.
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This shows a lack of courtesy for those around you. There are lot of things that we all *could *do but we don’t out of respect for those we share the world with. I’m not saying that nobody should ever recline, just that we should consider the time of day and other people when doing so.
You’re too far back to eat, drink, read, write, or just about anything else except sleep, and I can’t even do that in a coach seat, even when it’s reclined. I don’t mind if it’s a night flight because then everyone is reclining.
Next we hear from him, will be saying he has a great new job offer and the only inconvenience is he has to work from a secret lair inside an extinct volcano and wear jumpsuits.
I’m sorry, the Mile-High-Club tread is the one over there…
Tell us, how many of the other hundred plus adults on the plane were having a pissy day because someone reclined their seat?
Because I fly a lot of long haul, in big planes, with hundreds of other adults, who all seem to manage without getting bent. They seem to both understand, and willingly accommodate the uncomfortable conditions. Without even being asked.
This tells us that actually, by an overwhelming majority, people ARE comfortable with others doing so. Which is why the airlines continue to permit it and refuse to let people thwart those who wish to recline.
Which means you need to get over your picky self and suck it up like an adult. If it’s that important to you, make alternate arrangements.
You knew those were the choices when you bought your ticket and choice to board a plane with reclining seats.
Tell us, how many letters have you sent to the airlines about this issue? Do you express your disdain every time you board to the airline employees? Or just get pissy with other passengers on the plane?
I don’t see the issue. It’s best if the person reclining does it slowly, so you don’t lose something from the tray table, but other than that, I can’t understand the hostility.
Hell, if it’s a long flight, how else are you going to get any sleep?