Originally Posted by
Flyer_70
Here is an alternate view. The person who is asking you not to recline is essentially taking up some of your "paid" space. And while I would by no means treat a fellow human with disrespect I do not make my travel purchases based on other passengers needs. If they have space/comfort issues then it is up to them - not you - to plan accordingly.
The passenger in back of you basically said "I want you to be more uncomfortable so I can be more comfortable." So you sound like a better person than me.
I probably would have asked him to reimburse me for my recline space (okay.. maybe not but I probably would have reclined anyway..especially on a long haul).
I'm with you (and you'vd said it a lot more eloquently than I). I regard the very tall passenger the same way as I regard the overweight passenger -- if they need more space than the airline provides to be comfortable, they need to make other arrangements: either buy F, or ensure they get a bulkhead or exit row. Now, the reality is, if a request is phrased politely AND there is a compelling reason, I'd probably accommodate a passenger who requested I limit, but not eliminate, my recline. However, I have no patience for those who work themselves up into high dudgeon, as if
I'm the one who's interfering with them.
I've written about this before. Rather than include links, I'll just copytwo quick stories here. First, a CO story:
My wife and I were flying back from EZE via Houston on CO. We were seated in coach. This is 10-hour red-eye flight.
Directly behind me was what Seinfeld calls, a "Loud Talker." Every single word of his on-going conversation was bellowed at top volume. It was also readily apparent that he was not a frequent flyer.
As soon as wheels were up, I reclined my seat, put on my headphones and prepared to try to sleep. At one point, about 20 minutes later, I got up to use the head (carefully, without pulling on the seat in front of me). When I returned Mr. Loud Talker said to his companion, "You know Continental is really great, and these seats are really great, and everything would be really great if we just had 3 more inches of legroom."
I sat back down, reclined my seat and prepared to settle in for the duration. Next thing I know, Mr. Loud Talker has thrust his knees into the back of my seat, pushing the seat forward a good couple of inches (bear in mind that my seat wasn't reclined into his knees -- he changed his position to deliberately push his knees into my back).
Well, the joke was on him. CO's 777 coach seats are particularly uncomfortable, at least on this plane. Though, without question, he thought he was making me uncomfortable and would force me to unrecline, his knees provided some sorely needed lumbar support, so I was quite content to let him keep them there, and nodded off with my lower back nicely supported by Mr. Loud Talker. However, about an hour later we hit some vicious turbulence over the Andes and, I guess, it got too uncomfortable for Mr. Loud Talker to "punish" me, and he withdrew his knees and they remained withdrawn for the rest of the flight.
Next, a UA story:
This morning I flew SFO to DEN in paid F, on my way to Kansas City. After wheels up, I did what I always do and slowly reclined my seat, preparing to settle in to sleep. Apparently, the passenger seated behind me decided he was entitled to his space, and part of mine as well -- I started feeling sporadic kicks against the back of my seat. I ignored him, figuring he'd get the message and give up, but no. He opened his newspaper and rested the top of it on my head. At first, I didn't realize what he was doing and just brushed at my head. However, when it happened again, I grabbed the paper, turned around and said, "Could you please keep your paper off my head." He said, "I want to read my paper and you've reclined into my lap." I said, "When you've paid for my seat, you can tell me what to do with it." He said, "Well, put it up a little."
I'm having a particularly bad week and I didn't feel like a confrontation, so I moved the seat up a tiny bit -- a token concession, as it was. That appeared to satisfy this guy and I had no further trouble with him.
This is First Class. Seat pitch on a UA 757 in F is 38". I paid the premium to sit in F because I was exhausted and needed to sleep on the 2-1/2 hour flight -- that's what F is for, a little extra room and a little extra comfort. I'm of the opinion that the recliner gets to determine whether and how much to recline (though not during meal service), but I understand why tight seat pitch in coach makes this a controversial topic. However, this is a first class seat, for crying out loud!