Should you recline your seat on a short flight? For some people, that question may have a simple answer: If your seat reclines, you’re allowed to recline it. But what about the person behind you? What if their seat doesn’t recline, too? On a short flight, especially, shouldn’t you be mindful of that passenger and their space? RELATED: 10 Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Airplane Habits
The story of a dispute over reclining etiquette on an American Airlines flight from 2020 drew opinions from all sides of the issue. On a flight from New Orleans to Charlotte, passenger Wendi Williams recorded a video of the passenger behind her repeatedly jabbing her reclined seat with his hand, seemingly in response to her reclining her seat into his space. This, Wendi said, happened after he had already “punched” her seat nine times. The man’s own seat did not recline, and he had allegedly previously asked that she not recline while he ate, a request she complied with.
According to the Daily Mail, “Wendi also claims that despite complaining to a flight attendant, they offered the man a complimentary drink and threatened to have her escorted off the plane. She also says that after complaining to American Airlines, she was told she would have to get in touch with the FBI ‘to get any resolution.'” Here’s more about the incident if you haven’t already seen it:
My Take
This particular story may be old but the question persists: Is it ok to recline your seat? Personally, I usually don’t recline my seat on a short flight. But if I’m tired or if the person in front of me reclines into my space, then I will. When I do recline, I always give the person behind me a heads up that I’ll be leaning back so I don’t crush their laptop or food.
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Once, on a flight from Paris to Lyon, I reclined my seat because the person in front of me did and I’d just gotten off a 10-hour LAX-CDG flight on which I’d barely slept. I was exhausted. The American woman sitting behind me snapped at me, telling me that she had a bad back. I can understand a concern like that, but if the person in front of you reclines and you don’t, you end up squished. What made matters worse is that the woman had her own seat reclined but didn’t want me to recline mine. I told the woman to ask the person in front of me to sit up, and that if that person stopped reclining, then I would, too. If she hadn’t been so nasty about it, I would have just asked the person in front of me myself. If you ask me, she should have paid for first class or just stayed home.
Once I even paid the passenger in front of me not to recline by giving them a coupon for an inflight wi-fi Gogo session.
What do you think? Should you recline your seat on a short flight?
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I’m curious what airlines you folks fly on that have coach seats that recline so far back the person behind you would even notice it!
I’m curious what airlines you folks fly on that have coach seats that recline so far back the person behind the people behind you would even notice it!
I hope as many airline execs read the responses
and take action to lock the coach seats before
something serious happens! But my father
always said “wish in one hand and ………the other
and see which fills up first”.
Come on airlines- do something for the customers!
Prove my dead father wrong!!
I recline whenever possible, and I welcome others to do as well. If I need to work on my computer, I do it despite the person in front of me reclining…..If it is a problem the airline should lock the seats in upright. Otherwise, you have the right to recline….but not to decline.
I’m a small person, relatively speaking, but airline seats are small. When someone leans their seat back I cannot even use my tray table to work or eat. Personally I don’t like to recline unless I can really recline a decent amount at home in my recliner. I just think a person could be a little more considerate and see if reclining their seat is making the person behind them uncomfortable.
I concur, these seats should never be allowed to recline!!! The airlines keep making these seats smaller with almost no leg room! One time flying from Chicago to London, the clown in front of me reclined his as far as it would go. A stewardress came by and made him put the seat back to an up right position. I blame the airlines because some people noadays have zero respect for their fellow passengers.
I wouldn’t do it myself, but there’s a lot of things other people do that I wouldn’t. Even if I had a right to recline doesn’t mean I necessarily should on a short flight. I think the dispute could have been handled better though, by both of them.
I don’t fly that often but I never recline my seat. The person behind me has little room as it is, and I believe it is the courteous thing to do. Just because “I paid for this seat so I can recline it” doesn’t mean you should do so.
Now that tens of thousands have given their two cents about seat recline on every social media site possible, I’m sure the airlines can solve this quite nicely by removing any and all recline options from seats……so enjoy your 6, 12, 14 hour flights sitting bolt upright while you’re cramped into paralyzing positions arms stiffly at our sides (lest we interfere with the armrest hogs).
The man could NOT recline his seat at all. His seat was against a flat wall. But he still shouldn’t have beat on her seat.
The only answer is not to have any seats recline.
Interesting, I agree with what many have said above – if the seat has a recliner, then it can be used to recline the seat, otherwise the airline wouldn’t install them. It’s the airline’s fault if the seat are poorly designed/positioned, and I’ve learned that you have to make compromises and accept a little discomfort if you bought your economy tickets nice and cheap. As for the guy in the video, he would not be doing that if it was a guy sitting in front of him.
Best Wishes,