Jerking your seat back and spilling someone's food is not reclining, it is assault.

Both the person who did it and the airline should make up to the person behind, the airline is mentioned because it has the ability to identify and detain the miscreant and may extract reimbursement from that person.

If someone is giving you grief about space, ask to switch places.

Perhaps we need to have half the plane, maybe the right side, with all seats that don't recline. Then most people can choose.

And, IMHO, no one regardless of size has the right to both expct the person in front to sit upright and also recline his own seat.

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I don't understand why the airlines even allow the seats to recline. There's just not enough room to recline without causing discomfort to the people behind. There's no other situation I can think of where it's considered ok to lie down in the lap of another person in public! Personally, I don't see much benefit in reclining anyway. I can sleep as well or as badly sitting up as I can reclining.


I call it Mutually Assured Discomfort. If the person in front of you reclines, your only recourse is to gain a little space by reclining also, thus spreading the discomfort to those behind you. My policy is that I only recline if both the person in front and the person behind is already doing it.

I read someone's comment that the reclining person paid for their seat, so they have a right to recline. I disagree, but I mainly blame the airlines for allowing it.

On a recent flight, I complained to a flight attendent and suggested that the airline fix the seats so they couldn't recline. She acted surprised and said that she hadn't heard anyone complain about it before. I find that very hard to believe!

[This message has been edited by Orville (edited 08-26-2002).]

Sounds like a reasonable expectation for those seated in exit rows, I should think.

Just another reason why I love exit row seats when in coach, they can't recline, you can't recline, everybody's happy.

I am very surprised at the tall guy who understands why people want to recline. I am 6'5" and reclining doesn't help at all. My knees are still wedged up against the seat, it's just now I have to strain my neck to see them.

It is so ingrained into me from years of coach that reclining into someone imposes serious discomfort on them, that on international business class flights, I choose a seat at the back of the C cabin, so that I don't feel terribly guilty for reclining. Even though there is plenty of room, the concept that reclining = suffering is deeply ingrained in me, that I wouldn't feel right about reclining into someone at all.

I'm also very surprised at the person who recommended BA! I flew on a BA 757 from LHR-CDG and it was the most cramped, most miserable flight in a jet I've ever experienced. The guy in front of me did try to recline, and I actually yelped in pain, and it wasn't for effect. We ended up changing some seats around, but I would NEVER fly BA again.

As for the thought the tray table doesn't move, you should also consider the fact that it does move, if it is upright. I have had tray tables smashed into my knees before with such force that, in addition, to crying out in pain, I have had to kick my leg out so fast that I have damaged my carryon luggage (I totally destroyed a Plam Pilot this way).

Please take the recline feature away in coach!!! The space totally belongs to the person behind you, and it is an aggressive, inconsiderate act to recline your seat and impose suffering on them for marginal, if any, benefit to yourself.

I am 110% in support of seat kickers, air conditioner aimers, and sneezers. The recliners have no common decency and are deserving of none in return.

I am 6'2", and I hate it when the person in front of me reclines. As long as they are not trying to amputate my knee caps with the back of the seat, I usually don't say anything. However, I am frequently assaulted by the "knee bangers" who thwap their seats against my knees. I suppose they think somthing will "break loose" eventually. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/mad.gif Therefore, my seat of choice is in row 27 of a Delta 757. Personally, I would vote for non-reclining seats.

I am not a tall person, but I hate seat reclining also. It makes me feel like I am trapped in an uncomfortable seat that has suddenly become even more claustrophobic. And when people recline during meal service, it is especially annoying. Or those people that repeatedly try to force the seat to recline beyond its max.

It's nice to know that it's not just a tall person's problem! http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/smile.gif

Okay....as a flight attendant, I could not agree more with eliminating the recline button on coach seats. I, for one, do not think it is my position to tell someone to put their seat in an upright position AKA use some common sense, you are in this persons lap, sit up! However, unfortunately, we are probably a small group. As with so many things, as we have seen in recent times (meals, magazines), if you take away what so many complain about (though those amenities have been removed because of cost), they will just complain about the fact that they no longer have it. It's a double edged sword. As so many of you have said, use common sense! You may have paid for the seat, but so did the person behind you! Just to be fair, I am 6' and have sat in those coach seats just as much as the next guy, including BA(tight fit!), I never recline, EVER!

I am six feet tall. I fly mostly 777s transatlantic on AA and so far I have never had the seat in front touch my knees (I should add at this point that I don't think there is anything anatomically unusual about the position of my knees!).

This is of course due to the MRTC program introduced by AA which I think is wonderful.

I have also never felt anyone's knees in my back.

I'm pretty sure you're referring to AA. It has a minimum pitch of about 34 inches (varies a bit by aircraft type) in all its economy seats. For me (not very big) it means I can use a laptop computer on my tray table when the seat in front is fully reclined.

UA has similar pitch in the first few rows of economy, but you only sit there if you're elite, pay full Y, or get lucky at the airport.