Seat kicker — what would you do?
#1
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 29,757
Seat kicker — what would you do?
I’m currently sitting on 259 back home. I’m in 25A. This is a great seat with no seat in front of me. Back at the gate the guy behind me started likely kicking my seat back. It was annoying. Fast forward 30 minutes later climbing up to cruise I press the recline back to go halfway back. Dude behind me flips. “”NO MORE — DONT RECLINE I CANT FEEL MY LEGS!” He then started going to town on the chair. I kid you not. I then hit my boiling point. Take off my headphones, turn around and say “dude what the hell is your problem? Sorry I have every right to recline.” He went off on me to the passenger next to him calling me every name in the book. Immediately I lean forward to the flight attendant seated in the jump seat directly in front of me and tell him what’s going on. He agrees it’s totally unacceptable and re-accommodates this man in 16D aisle.
Thoughts? What should I have done differently if anything?
Thoughts? What should I have done differently if anything?
#3
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Aspen, CO
Posts: 792
Recently had a couple sit behind me (I was in bulkhead 1A and they were in 2A/C. Girl kept kicking my seat (I believe her feet were stretched out like you do on the bulkhead) and after the 2nd or 3rd kick I turned around and told her that the padding on the seats are actually very thin and I feel every little movement. She apologized and that was the end of that. No hard feelings and no problems after telling her to stop. If she told me to piss off or similar, I would've just hit the call button and called an FA to intervene. OP did the right thing in not escalating the situation with the a-hole and just going straight to the FA.
#4
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: NYC
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 1,372
Years ago, on a CX flight from JFK-HKG in Y, a little kid, maybe 5 years old, was kicking the back of my brother's seat. Like, kick kick kick kick, constantly. Because he was bored. My brother kindly asked the mom to get her son to stop, and she nodded. But it continued. He asked her again, but it still continued.
Finally, he called the FA over, and said to her, loud enough so the mom could hear, "This kid is out of control and kicking my seat. Do you have, I don't know, a cage you could put him in?"
Finally, he called the FA over, and said to her, loud enough so the mom could hear, "This kid is out of control and kicking my seat. Do you have, I don't know, a cage you could put him in?"
#6
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: LAX/BUR, RDU
Programs: DL SM, AAdvantage, SPG
Posts: 1,360
I think what you did was perfectly acceptable. Mr. 26A seemed to be having a bad day, and involving the FA seemed to remedy the situation pretty well.
This may be a pathetic complaint, but I don't get kids who kick the seat in front of them because "they are bored." I was a child not too long ago, and the limited/small IFE (Moving map ), the window, or a book seemed to suffice in the entertainment department.
This may be a pathetic complaint, but I don't get kids who kick the seat in front of them because "they are bored." I was a child not too long ago, and the limited/small IFE (Moving map ), the window, or a book seemed to suffice in the entertainment department.
#7
Join Date: Dec 2004
Programs: AA CK, Marriott plat
Posts: 169
I have had this happen,, and when I turned and asked they guy to stop he told me that he was too tall and he did not have enough room and so he would not stop. He kicked the whole flight, as we got off the plane a bunch of other pax spoke loudly about how rude this person was. I just assumed Karma will take care of it
#8
Join Date: Jun 2012
Programs: TK*G
Posts: 267
To be fair, a lot depends on just exactly how tall 26A was. If their legs were truly jammed up against your seat pre-recline, in my opinion your right to recline ends when it begins to cause physical pain to other passenger. That being said, I highly doubt that was the case if he's having room to kick and you did the right thing by involving the FA who resolved it well.
#9
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2017
Programs: Rapid Rewards, AAdvantage, SkyMiles
Posts: 2,931
I've had kids do this in the past to me (fortunately only on 1-3 hour flights) and I've just lived with it, but I would've said something if it wasn't a kid kicking my seat. Unless you are 6'3+ and your legs are jammed into the back of the seat in front of you there is no excuse for any adults to kick the seat other than once or twice by accident.
#10
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 27,190
To be fair, a lot depends on just exactly how tall 26A was. If their legs were truly jammed up against your seat pre-recline, in my opinion your right to recline ends when it begins to cause physical pain to other passenger. That being said, I highly doubt that was the case if he's having room to kick
#12
Join Date: Apr 2015
Programs: AA Gold, Enterprise PLT, Marriott Gold
Posts: 604
I'm 6'4 and I can't tell you the last time I flew 2+ hrs when the person in front of me did not put their seat back. It is what it is. Unfortunately it starts the chain as I then have to put back my seat a bit, but I survive. Last week I flew 4hrs LAX-ORD crammed in there pretty good, not ideal but I made it work. Some people just have lesser tolerance I suppose.
OP, I think you handled it pretty well honesty. Sadly that guy was not grown up enough to simply ask you to not put it back, he had to resort to passive aggressive nature.
OP, I think you handled it pretty well honesty. Sadly that guy was not grown up enough to simply ask you to not put it back, he had to resort to passive aggressive nature.
#13
Join Date: Nov 2008
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 124
OP handled it well. Surprised the guy behind him didn't get kicked off the plane - he must have been slightly normal when talking to the FA. I was on a cross-country flight not too long ago that had a touch screen LCD panel in the seat back. I very briefly selected the screen to show the flight progress on the monitor. I swear, it was tap, tap, touch, push. The lady in front of me went bananas and started squawking that I was pushing on her seat. I apologized and then rolled my eyes at the guy sitting next to me. His mouth was literally hanging open. Then I just watched a movie on Netflix on my iPad.
Some people are crazy.
Some people are crazy.
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 29,757
OP handled it well. Surprised the guy behind him didn't get kicked off the plane - he must have been slightly normal when talking to the FA. I was on a cross-country flight not too long ago that had a touch screen LCD panel in the seat back. I very briefly selected the screen to show the flight progress on the monitor. I swear, it was tap, tap, touch, push. The lady in front of me went bananas and started squawking that I was pushing on her seat. I apologized and then rolled my eyes at the guy sitting next to me. His mouth was literally hanging open. Then I just watched a movie on Netflix on my iPad.
Some people are crazy.
Some people are crazy.
If he wanted more legroom he should have purchased a seat with that. I remember hearing him tell the poor guy next to him “well if I had a seat like that I wouldn’t be complaining!”
your lack of planning is not my concern. Sorry.
#15
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 5,270
- If I sit upright with my legs a bit apart, my knees won't butt up against the seat in front of me (even if it's reclined).
- If I tuck my feet under the seat in front of me, I'm actually quite comfortable. Or,
- if I slouch a bit and jut my legs straight out, they'll jam into the seatback, so when that person reclines I can holler OH GOD WHY ARE YOU RECLINING I CAN'T FEEL MY LEGS YOU MONSTER!!!...