What would you do if your seat wouldn't lock upright?
Sep 2, 2015, 6:00 am
#17
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You called the Captain comments in to question by telling him to sit in the seat. He said it is normal "give" but you said no and told him to test it himself. I guess that's hy he possibly commented after the flight.
Sep 2, 2015, 9:41 am
#18
Join Date: Nov 2010
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"What would you do if your seat wouldn't lock upright?"
I guess I'd sit back.
But realistically, I think you made the right call, and you were lucky that the problem only took ten minutes to fix. If it were irreparable, you could have been significantly delayed by a seat replacement, or switch to a different aircraft, or IDB. And that's probably why the captain said what he said - for so minor an equipment malfunction, it's not worth IDB a pair of F pax or delaying the entire flight significantly. Had you told the FA in flight, I'm sure the seat would have been swapped at the destination instead of being repaired in situ.
I guess I'd sit back.
But realistically, I think you made the right call, and you were lucky that the problem only took ten minutes to fix. If it were irreparable, you could have been significantly delayed by a seat replacement, or switch to a different aircraft, or IDB. And that's probably why the captain said what he said - for so minor an equipment malfunction, it's not worth IDB a pair of F pax or delaying the entire flight significantly. Had you told the FA in flight, I'm sure the seat would have been swapped at the destination instead of being repaired in situ.
Sep 3, 2015, 4:24 am
#21
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Exile
Posts: 15,656
Some years ago, I actually had to deal with a passenger who couldn't recline his seat, got frustrated, stood up and kicked the seat back, snapped the seat frame to render it unusable, had to be arrested and removed from the flight (causing a further 45 minute delay) and then claim IDB compensation for the damaged seat. 
Only tangentially related to this discussion, but an amusing anecdote to share.
Only tangentially related to this discussion, but an amusing anecdote to share.
Sep 3, 2015, 1:37 pm
#22
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: YVR
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I've never had maintenance fix something like this but that's probably because in Y recline isn't much anyway. But I've had more than a few flights where the FA taps me to wake up and move my seat up, but I know I hadn't moved it back, so I bring it up, then it falls right back.
I've explained it to the FA whenever it happens, no one seemed to care.
I've explained it to the FA whenever it happens, no one seemed to care.
Sep 4, 2015, 7:47 am
#23
Join Date: Jul 2011
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I've had a seat that went up but did not lock in the full upright position. The flight was overbooked and speaking up would have meant being taken off the flight or a delayed until it was fixed. As this was a connecting flight on a fairly important international business trip I didn't say a word to anyone. During take-off and landing I was careful not to press on the seat back and then reclined for the rest of the flight.
Sep 4, 2015, 7:49 am
#24
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Knoteetingham
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I've had a seat that wouldn't recline. Advised FA and maintenance came to fix it before we took off.
I've had a man in F on Qatar who would not put his seat in to an upright position for take off. Pleading with the man and the women he was travelling with did no good. We just took off with him in full recline! So much for safety.
I've had a man in F on Qatar who would not put his seat in to an upright position for take off. Pleading with the man and the women he was travelling with did no good. We just took off with him in full recline! So much for safety.
Sep 4, 2015, 9:15 am
#25
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: NYC, ORD
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Posts: 280
I've had a seat that wouldn't recline. Advised FA and maintenance came to fix it before we took off.
I've had a man in F on Qatar who would not put his seat in to an upright position for take off. Pleading with the man and the women he was travelling with did no good. We just took off with him in full recline! So much for safety.
I've had a man in F on Qatar who would not put his seat in to an upright position for take off. Pleading with the man and the women he was travelling with did no good. We just took off with him in full recline! So much for safety.
Sep 6, 2015, 6:25 pm
#26
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 1,684
Background. I was seated in an F window today on a single aisle (2x2) short flight (about 1 hour). The flight was delayed due to the incoming aircraft by about 1:30.
As soon as I boarded, I noticed that the seat would not latch in the upright position. if I leaned back, the seat would recline all the way back, without touching the recline button. I tried for a few minutes to get it to latch, then pressed the call button and notified an FA.
I told the FA that I was willing to move to any open seat to facilitate leaving, or that I could deplane if the a/c was full. My seatmate also stated that she was willing to move to any open seat.
So the captain comes back and pushes on the seat a bit, says that's just play in the seat and is normal. I told him to try sitting in it, that this is not "normal play in the seat." So he decides that I can't just be reseated because if the (empty) seat falls back during takeoff, it blocks the person behind's egress path. Thus, maintenance gets called.
The maintenance tech was terrific (have you hugged your favorite A&P mechanic lately?): He came quickly and was able to repair the seat in about 10 minutes.
What do you think?
As soon as I boarded, I noticed that the seat would not latch in the upright position. if I leaned back, the seat would recline all the way back, without touching the recline button. I tried for a few minutes to get it to latch, then pressed the call button and notified an FA.
I told the FA that I was willing to move to any open seat to facilitate leaving, or that I could deplane if the a/c was full. My seatmate also stated that she was willing to move to any open seat.
So the captain comes back and pushes on the seat a bit, says that's just play in the seat and is normal. I told him to try sitting in it, that this is not "normal play in the seat." So he decides that I can't just be reseated because if the (empty) seat falls back during takeoff, it blocks the person behind's egress path. Thus, maintenance gets called.
The maintenance tech was terrific (have you hugged your favorite A&P mechanic lately?): He came quickly and was able to repair the seat in about 10 minutes.
What do you think?
I'm all for reporting things and getting them fixed, but in this case, it could have been to your detriment. Staying reclined for an hour isn't a horrible thing.
Personally, I would have no reported it until the plane was in the air and then reported it when on the ground saying that the seat kept reclining and thus it was not safe. It would then either be someone else's problem or they'd fix it at night.
Sep 7, 2015, 12:52 am
#27
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 215
Originally Posted by Badenoch;
I've had a seat that went up but did not lock in the full upright position.....During take-off and landing I was careful not to press on the seat back and then reclined for the rest of the flight.
Same here - just played casual and mentioned it after the flight was over.
Sep 7, 2015, 6:35 am
#28
Join Date: Jan 2015
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Sep 7, 2015, 6:09 pm
#29
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 4,187
Without a doubt or hesitation I would refuse to take the seat. If the flight crew was unwilling (or unable) to reseat me, I would have requested a customer service supervisor to permit my deplaning. Aircraft seats, in full upright, are too far reclined for comport, IMO; no way am I going to tolerate the additional pain of being in a further reclined position.
Sep 7, 2015, 8:31 pm
#30
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: lax
Posts: 3,888
Without a doubt or hesitation I would refuse to take the seat. If the flight crew was unwilling (or unable) to reseat me, I would have requested a customer service supervisor to permit my deplaning. Aircraft seats, in full upright, are too far reclined for comport, IMO; no way am I going to tolerate the additional pain of being in a further reclined position.