BearX220

This is the biggest corporate dodge in the world -- give customers products they hate, then claim they asked for them. I don't recall volunteering that I want a cramped seat that causes pain. Nobody did. I buy what's on offer, but under protest.

chitownjeff

The issue/problem I have, is that when I sit in a regional jet seat, my knees are already pressed into the seat in front of me. When the person in front reclines, there's no where for my knees to go.

I almost got into a fight once because the guy in front of my kept trying to recline the seat back into my knees because the seat couldn't fully recline because of my knees. He kept slamming it back and I said "dude, there's nowhere for my knees to go" and his response was "I didn't design the plane and I paid for a seat that reclines."

The flight attendant was watching the entire exchange and didn't say a thing. I ended up sitting side saddle (having both feet in the aisle) the entire 2 hour flight because I didn't want to escalate the issue.

For people that respond to this problem with "deal with it" they need to try being on the other side.

boss315

arrest them all!

yohanson

What airline is offering "36" pitch, a hot lunch, free booze, free checked bags, free standby, etc." for $300? Hell, I've twice now this year have paid over $1000 to sit in a cramped middle seat with no lunch or no free booze. Granted, they did check my bag for free.

Ron Mexico

Amen, brother!

Or Keep the Top of the back of the seat in place...if you recline, your seat slides forward. The passenger's space should be in the area in front of them, not behind them. If you recline, you're probably sleeping, you don't need that extra room to work on your laptop, watch a movie, etc.

hazelrah

This is like the Delta exec.s' assertion that passengers prefer flights not to be cancelled in bad weather. Well, duh.

If you ask someone "Do you prefer that Delta not cancel flights in bad weather," well obviously people are going to say, "yes".

If you ask them " Do you prefer that Delta not cancel your flight, you will depart late, misconnect in ATL and be forced to spend the night on an airport seat or in a hotel on your own dime?" I bet not many would say yes.

goldbar

I often read the "advice" that if you don't like passengers who recline to fly first or business class. Is there a US carrier that offers business or first class seating on their regional jets or turboprops?

eghansen

I think that screaming and swearing is ALWAYS unexpected or unreasonable behavior for a sleeping person who had just had a seat reclined on her head. Ms. Fine should have spent a couple of day in prison for the trouble she caused.


Tray tables are for food, drink and possibly a laptop. Not for sleeping.

LETTERBOY

I'm 5 ft. 5 in., and even though I'd probably have enough room if the person in front of me reclined, I'd still prefer that they didn't.

Ditto.

Primmy

Wasn't French was he?? I received exactly the same response from a passenger seated in an exit row window seat, I was behind him. 2 minutes into the flight Wham! the seat came fully back, inches away from my face. I couldn't seat the screen, open the tray table...stuck my knees into the seat back and jiggled them a bit and he immediately jumps up and complains!!
I told him I had no room, etc...He didn't care!! Day flight, 3 hours so no need to sleep/recline in that manner.
when the meal service came I complained to the crew that I had no room to eat it and she had to ask 3 times for him to put his seat up before he complied.
I made sure that my knees impacted his seat back for the remainder of the flight, even got up and bumped the seat to go to the toilet!!
Childish?? Yes...but I never recline my seat unless I manage to get a business class seat where it doesn't impact on anyone.

84fiero

There isn't much of any difference among the major domestic carriers' E legroom such that anyone really has this much of a choice among Y seats.

Plus, people do fork over extra for E+ seating that I think it shows some people are willing to pay for more space.

Of course, even if customers were willing to pay more, I'd be willing to bet the airlines still would have reduced legroom regardless. After all, they want to cut their costs so as to maximize profit at whatever prices the market will bear. We're now down to so few major domestic carriers (3 or 4 depending how you want to classify WN) we'll have less and less choice. All of the major airlines could go to 28" pitch with no recline...and we'd be stuck with it.

All that said, though, I don't actually think legroom itself is necessarily a common factor in these incidents, as they happen in E+ and even F. It seems like a function of the attitudes of the individuals involved. Maybe there's a larger societal part of it, I don't know.

trini19

I disagree with the action of her being released without incident. She was clearly disruptive and a safety issue to others (someone in the state of rage can be violent) and caused an airline to divert! There should be more consequence to that than simply ok goodbye IMO.

Jnyfeler

The next asshat that pulls this crap should be banned for life from the airline as well as having to pay the fees associated with diverting the airplane to another location.

rajsh

The folks at FT know what they are getting into re: flying. i.e. The plane type, seat width, pitch, tray table size and position and how restricted the space is going to be for the seat they select.

Therefore knowing that you are purchasing a seat on a particular flight with a particular seat of known dimensions of available space for you to use (said dimensions change based on person in front of you if they recline) ... one would think you need to plan for that and accept it. Actually you are accepting it, since you agreed to the purchase of the ticket.

That means - the passenger in front of you has the right to recline if the seat supports that feature regardless of class of travel.

Glad you saved your laptop, but you knew the possibility existed when you put a device with your laptops dimensions on the tray table ... that the person in front has the right to recline the seat into that space. Also not all the reclines are intentional slam backwards by folks. Many times the seat just falls back as soon as you push the button and without any extra pressure being exerted.

Sorry to hear of the problem. You must encounter this on every flight you take ? Or do you specifically try to find flights and class of travel that supports your larger dimensions (taller) ? Because in reality, the person in front does have the right to recline. And yes politeness dictates that all people generally work with each other to a solution. But ... you also have the right to exercise being polite to others ... by doing one of the following proactively since you know you are tall and will jam up the seat in front of you. i.e. buying a seat that offers more room or multiple seats to get the room you need ... or calling the airlines and asking for a specific seat due to height ... i.e. emergency exit rows where recline is disabled for seat in front or a bulkhead seat or a EC seat or a Biz or First seat.

The airlines shouldn't be diverting flights, unless they are going to follow up and take action against the passenger who is causing the issue (imho - the person who tells someone they can't recline, if reclining is supported by the seat).

wrp96

Even if the "cause" of this is reduced legroom, that doesn't give anyone the right to take out their displeasure, dissatisfaction, anger, etc, etc,etc on a fellow passenger.