Originally Posted by
clr4t8koff
My understanding is that the majority, if not all lie flats have manual operational capabilities. I've seen first-hand on the 767 a FA ask a J passenger to stand up and they were able to remove the cushions and manually put the seat into bed mode. While this might have been a 757, it sounds like OP possibly had some lazy FA's who thought it was easier to just stick them back in coach.
The crew was SLC based and the FA in First was very professional and apologetic. I didn't get the feeling that he didn't try his personal hardest to make it work for me, and I pointed this out in my contact with Delta and said I appreciated the FA efforts and it wasn't their fault (or anybody's really, but my experience was impacted nonetheless).
While the FA didn't take any cushions out, he spent about 10 minutes trying to get it to sit back up to no avail. Something was stuck under it and the motor kept making a grinding and clicking sound as it tried to raise but couldn't.