Originally Posted by
Beckles
At the risk of sounding heartless, if a person is incapable of reclining their seat without assistance, then they shouldn't be sitting by themselves without someone to assist them, and obviously that person should be seated in the same cabin as them.
It doesn't sound heartless--just a little, well, naive.
To set the stage, I'm able to carry around 35 pounds and, IISSM, I'm not the dumbest box of rocks. I'm not a senior citizen nor is my eyesight-impaired. Yet, I'm had times in a bulkseat where the button to release the in-armrest display was so difficult to trigger that I had to use both hands, lean into it, and put nearly all my strength in to get it to pop out. My wife? No chance and she's nowhere near frail. In business class, I remember being unable to use the remote to recline and also thinking it shouldn't require the passenger studying the instructions for 5 minutes just to lean back a bit.
If we've gotten to the point that calling an FA for help in reclining a seat is considered over-the-top, then we've lost focus on why FAs are even there: to ensure safety and comfort. Not just one or the other.