Personally, if I have a seat that reclines, I consider that space to be part of the space I rented for that particular flight. Going back slowly and smoothly is best, to give the person behind you time to adjust to the new situation, but that space is mine to use and I will in all likelihood do so when it suits me.

And to the passive-aggressive type that opens their air vent and points it at me, lets be adults here. Childish acts such as this do nothing but inflame the situation.

A Little Jetiquette
 

In first class, reclining should not be a problem. But it should be done slowly. Anything that disturbs other passengers; such as pulling on the forward seat to assist rising up and reaching the aisle should be avoided. Use the arm rests instead for support.

If in coach, recline only if you are uncomfortable and check to be sure that the passenger behind will not be injured as you recline. Politely asking is a nice gesture and if they say no, comprimise and let them know you'll come back a very little bit.

Why the need to recline?
 

Why do people need to recline anyway? Sitting up straight is good for posture. I have seen people reclined just before taxiing down the runway while wearing earphones. Some people seem to lose common sense after boarding an aircraft. Or maybe feel the urge to have a FA come over and request that they put their seat in the upright position while still on the ground and only adjust it after the AC is in the air.

I would prefer it if NO seats could recline

I know many people here think it's their right to recline etc, i just think it's rude

It just leads to agro so why not just have no reclining !

Really? Why would there be monthly reclining threads, vs continuous? This was my first reclining thread, so I'm just curious....

It's harmless, unless they're trying to sleep, but not necessary. That said, not reclining during mealtimes is a very good thing, and some airlines as already noted, request it - although somewhat inconsistently, to my recollection, on JL and CX.

Reclining slowly is also a good thing. Even as a short guy, I've nearly lost a laptop screen to someone slamming their seat back, where a gradual recline would have given me plenty of time to get it out of the way.

That said, sticky seats do happen, and I've had a couple of coach seats on AA which pretty much went from "resisting any recline" to "falling backwards" instantly. OTOH, a couple of times isn't much over 14 years, and that can't be the only reason people do it.

As an aside, I really dug the new CX coach seats where the recline is forward within the shell when I got to try them last oct, and they eliminate a lot of the ettiquette questions. :)


Is that a good idea? If there's a need to return and evacuate, it's going to be in the first couple of minutes, but it can happen. I usually wait to get comfortable (reclined and shoes off) for the first 5 minutes or so, roughly until the "ding"/electronic devices announcement...

Having to sit up straight for 14+ hours on JFK-NRT or SFO-HKG would lead to a lot more agro, and it would keep many people thoroughly awake throughout the trip.

Perhaps they should have special "no reclining" sections for those people who despise it - it seems like a vociferous minority who are willing to give up their own recline in return for other people not reclining into their space.

Meanwhile, for a larger number of people, the lack of recline of their own seat is enough of a problem that non-reclineable seats get flagged as less desireable by both the airlines and sites like Seatguru.

Now, it does depend on the length of the flight and to a lesser extent time of day; no recline on mid-flights under 3 hours wouldn't bother me much. Then again, that's a tiny minority of miles - SFO<->JFK transcons are my short hops these days - and even for the rare connection via DFW or ORD where the flight is only a couple of hours, if I'm going in the morning, I'm likely to be trying to sleep.

You were sitting in a spacious F seat and you were resting your knees against the seatback in front of you? Are you 7'6 or something? I'm 6'+ and never ever have had my knees banged ever in first class on a flight. Are you perhaps exaggerating a little bit?

A few things to keep in mind:

- You knew from the start that the seat could recline and there is a nice, neat and tidy space under the seat in front of you to put your legs. Putting them there means that the chances of a seat banging into your knees is extremely unlikely.

- There are these places called hotels where sleeping is ideal. An airplane is a loud cramped place full of people talking, moving around, flight attendants serving food and staff making announcements. It's not an ideal place to get sleep.

- Not all seats work the same. Did you ever think that what he did at first might have been his attempt to recline slowly? Perhaps it didn't work and he had to put more effort into it. Airlines aren't exactly spending extra money on unnecessary maintenance these days. Somehow, I doubt that they spend a lot of time making sure that seats recline the same way across their fleet.

In the case where you're really tall, book a first class seat. In the case that you're in the top .1% of tall people on the planet, you might want to consider going first, train or private plane if you expect that nobody should recline their seat.

In so far as reclining their seat more gently or asking about it, should they wake you to do this? Should they ask you if they want to start a conversation or push a call button. So many people on this site are anal and get upset over minor things.

Take some responsibility for yourself and put your legs under the chair in front of you. It would be highly unlikely that a seat recline in such a situation would impact you at all. Alternatively, if you really don't like people reclining their seats in front of you (or other things like not liking cramped, dry, bumpy, crowded places) then you might want to consider driving.

I sit in Y most of the time. I tend to recline very slowly and I never put the seat all the way back. I only recline if I plan on snoozing a bit. I'm 6'6" and I do have respect for the person behind me. I try to take a look at their stature before I recline. So many times I've had someone recline on me when my knees were already against the seat. They just keep pushing and pushing wondering why the seat won't go back. <sigh>

It's a very tired topic, and one that quickly spirals into chaos.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...rowbody-f.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...f-landing.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...d-threads.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...e-jammers.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...-his-seat.html

And this classic:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...eat-often.html

This doesn't count the numerous other threads that quickly stray into seat reclining.

Ask the person behind you.

But, never recline during meal/drink times.

I always recline, most often as soon as the wheels leave the runway. However, I sit forward, push the button, and then recline slowly.

yah, I see what you mean! My apologies for opening up a tired can o' worms. I think I was just hoping that FT folks would say that they are all cognizant of reclination issues, and try to be slow and respectful when they pushed back. Some of the vitriol here has been most enlightening, but in a sad way.

sigh--no, I'm not exaggerating in the least. On domestic UA flights in F, someone who is 6-4+ will definitely have their knees impinged when the person in front of them reclines quickly. I usually try to get seats in row 1, just for that reason, but with last minute upgrade clearances being the norm these days, that's harder to do. I was only looking for a bit of civility, but I guess this is a contentious issue, sadly.

aaahhh the passive aggressive strategy. has it ever worked for you?

^ that's the way to go..