CitizenWorld

Not my problem. You knew what you're buying into already. I fly long haul (12 hours) International economy once in a while and I find it's totally acceptable.

JR14

Agreed. And I'll always recline somewhat because, like everyone else near me on the plane, I'm just trying to survive my long-haul flight in coach! I do feel bad for whoever's stuck in non-reclining seats in front of emergency exits, etc.

Megn

No, but I would if the bun was stale, the hamburger cold, and they forgot the cheese.

Badenoch

Hardly the same. You know the size of the seat when you buy your ticket. Your example would be similar to finding the seat belt doesn't work and the cushion is torn.

Do you use a Knee Defender?

Megn

Of course not. Do you always assume the worst about people who disagree with you?

YKF

Does anyone know if the item can be purchased in bulk incase they stop making them

chx1975

Spot on. I never fly long haul economy because it's not acceptable for me. There is always a way out. Air Transat or Icelandair has really crappy business class but the price is not BA business class either and there is plenty of leg space. Again Air Transat or KLM will be happy to sell you a slightly more comfortable economy seat for a small fee, inside the US I find United Economy Plus often worth the cost for 3+ hr flights. When I was going to Australia I opted for Jetstar business. When I can, I use Aeroplan miles to fly United to Europe.

In short: there is a seat for everyone. If you don't fit in yours, don't blame the airline. They operate on supply and demand. The industry average profit was 4%.

CitizenWorld

I believe the burger was advertised as you described. If you want more then do what I do and splash for a Business or First ticket once in a while.

Cargojon

I don't think that partially blaming the airlines equates to necessarily defending the users of this device. I don't own one, wouldn't use one, etc. I think they're rude and am glad they are forbidden on many (all?) airlines. But I can tell you I purposely avoid LH 747-400's because of the horrible seat pitch and room in coach vs. OAL.

But I can see how the airlines continued seat degradations over the years can help in furthering the problem.

It's a joint problem - airlines squeezing more people in less comfortable seat + rude people with no consideration.

boltjames

If your point is that there are rude people on planes I agree.

If your point is that it is rude to recline your seat that is not the case. The seats are designed to recline; they are only fully upright on takeoff and landing because of FAA regulations.

BJ

HMO

There are in the market seats without reclining feature. And I'm pretty sure their are cheaper than the reclining ones. And because they use less space too, in theory with these seats the airlines could squeeze an extra room or offer an extra or two inches at the pitch.

If the Arlines have chosen for not using these kind of seats, I do believe because their internal research showed the pax majority prefers reclining seats.

Cargojon

My point is two-fold - thete are rude people on planes, and also in an effort to cram more butts in the airplane, airlines hsve made economy less and less comfortable over the years.

Its a two edged sword.

bookeew

There is a perfect legitimate reason to use the knee defender: protect your own stuff.

I'm regularly using a notebook on my flights for work. Depending on the seats and your notebook, if the person in front of you declines too rapidly (which a lot of people do), it will destroy your notebook's screen. No thank you. I had this happen once on the way to a client engagement.

If all travelers would be civilized, I wouldn't have to use them, but they are not. People claim they have all rights but no obligations. What other choice to I have? Neither the airline nor the passenger would have paid for the new notebook although they destroyed it and going to court is not a viable option either.

Before the class arguments comes up again: this also happens in UA Y+.
Not always, a seat in C and up is available when I need to travel so this is not always an option.

Thus, each time I'm working, I mount the knee defender and tell the person in front of me that I am doing it. This way, they are aware and can tell me if they want to recline so that I can remove the device.

Lastly, if you are a douche, I will be a douche. I will kick the seat in front of me like a small child, I will blow up the AC fan on you, I will keep my light turned on, I will press the buttons on the entertainment system a lot, I will get up a lot and use your seat as support. Don't be an ..., stay civilized, we all have the same pain in Y, no point in not being nice to each other.

HMO

And you are going to perform all of these nice things just because the front pax decided to recline?

CitizenWorld

There are other ways of protecting your stuff you know, by not using your laptop on an aircraft, by using it on your lap, by using a tablet instead etc. You have absolutely no right to assault the person in front of you because they were using a function of the seat provided, regardless of how they reclined. If a bloke swears at me in a bar, that doesn't give me the right to put a hollowpoint in his chest. It is also not anybody's fault that you failed to secure a seat up front, the difficulties of your job are exactly that. Your job. There are plenty of choices here mate, you seem to be choosing the one that's causing problems. If you're using a laptop, I have no problem with the bloke behind me telling me that he's doing so and do recline gently and slowly. I very much doubt anyone sitting in front of you will have issues with that either. Being an unnecessary dick on an aircraft may mean that you'll be one of those folks who gets an airplane diverted.

ADDIT: If you can't fly C then fly J. There are always choices.