Reclining aeroplane seats?

[MrsRaegan]

Flew to Spain yesterday with DS who had to sit on my lap. We were the row behind extra leg room.

Woman in front tried to recline her seat but there was literally no room for her to do so. We couldn't even put the tray down when her seat was fully upright as he had to sit on my knee.

She then ranted like a mad woman to her husband about "inconsiderate parents" I'd like to point out DS slept for most of the journey.

So AIBU to think on a 3 hour flight with a toddler on a parents knee behind you, you don't really need to recline your seat?

shovetheholly - I really don't think it's that big a deal. We'll have to agree to disagree I'm afraid!

plus I think you're dramatizing things a bit. It's literally only a fucking plane seat.

I don't have a problem with people reclining on a long haul flight. It does make it slightly easier to rest your head on the side bits of the headrest and therefore it's easier to sleep. There is still enough room to use the tray table when the seat in front is reclined, I don't know why people are saying it's impossible to eat?

I do eye roll a bit when the person in front reclines on a short flight but I don't get worked up about it. All these people spitting with rage and complaining to flight attendants must have anger issues

Jamming your knees in to the back of someone's seat to prevent them reclining is seriously rude and entitled behaviour. get over yourselves ffs.

I think if an aeroplane seat can decline, you are reasonable to recline it. She wasn't being unreasonable, the seat is reclinable.

However in saying that, last time I flew, the person in front of me reclined before I had even sat down! I struggled to even get in, and I am not a big person (5 foot tall, size 10) I said nothing, but fortunately flight attendant asked them to put it up again.

As soon as we had taken off, they immediately reclined again. The seat was so small that I could not put down my tray to eat my meal when the person in front reclined, without reclining myself, so I felt I had no choice but to recline whilst eating, even though it was uncomfortable.

I don't blame the person in front of me, they had every right to recline, I blame the airline with their tiny seats.

On a long haul flight walking the aisles a few times is good practice for health reasons.

And I dont anything about written etiquette when it comes to flying but if you're well mannered it doesn't take much to follow a few common sense 'unwritten' rules such as the ones mentioned pages ago. But that said, if you are going to penny pinch on your onboard seating arrangements even if it comes to not paying for pre-allocated seats - just dont expect me to help you penny pinch by being uncomfortable or inconvenienced myself. Even in business class and you aren't sitting beside your 'whoever' because you didn't pre-book your seat. Im not sitting near to the galley for anyone.

The most vexed issue of my flying life is kids in the seat behind kicking my (not reclined) seat.

Shall I start a thread?

honey I think it does depend on the plane.

The last time I flew, it genuinely was impossible for me to put the food table down whilst the person in front was reclined, unless I reclined myself, which I did. It was a very small plane.

But TTWK, surely the people reclining are also allowing themselves a level of comfort and service that can only be achieved by adding to the discomfort of the people behind them. Surely that's 'extremely entitled'.

Extremely entitled??? For reclining a reclining seat? Ridiculous.
Am I entitled if I dare to eat my airline meal if the person behind me is feeling nauseous. Maybe I should check and ask permission?

Actually I should rephrase that. It wasn't a literally small plane, it was a big plane, just the seats that were small.

SorchaN I am perfectly aware that I am not the only person in the world with a disability or medical condition. If you were kneeing me in the back I'd swap seats with DH.

You might, unless I were travelling with my son, who would be seated in the seat directly behind your husband. He's a terrible fidgit (also because of a disability). What a shame. You might have to cast around the nearby rows for a comfortable seat, all the while refusing to have a polite conversation about your very real needs. How bizarre.

*fidget (of course)

Would you be explaining to the people in front of you why you and your son are kicking their seats, Sorcha?

Fairy: So you won't discuss your medical history, but you expect me to? Interesting!

I'm with you on that BitOutOfPractice.

Children kicking seats is way worse than seat reclining. Anyone woudo get irritated by the back of their seat being bashed repeatedly, but as this thread shows, plenty of people aren't bothered at all by recliners.

I see there's no need for me to start the thread

FWIW I was once seated in front of a family and before the flight and the mum said to me "I'm afraid my son is a right fidget. I will do my utmost to stop him kicking your seat but if he does, I am apologising in advance now and I'll buy you a drink!"

I thought that was genius - I was totally on side and not bothered at all by the occasional kick.

It's the constant kickers who seem to be left to it by the parents that get my goat!

That's not what I said. I asked you the same question I was asked, that's all.

microferret - probably . I think these things get more and more polarized as they go on, and I am probably getting too entrenched so time to bow out after this.

I'd like to go back to the OP's original post, though, and point out that she's talking about a specific experience of flying with children and of being physically uncomfortable and unable to open the tray, and not of reclining more generally (i.e. adult-to-adult). I have no reason to doubt her description of what it was like, i.e. incredibly cramped, uncomfortable, and difficult for her to parent. I suppose I would like to think that we're all reasonable adults, and we wouldn't simply insist on our right to do something in any context, but would look at those around us and figure out how our behaviour was likely to affect those others and act accordingly.

I wonder if some of the disagreement here is really actually grounded in different experiences. I have noticed that from airline to airline (or maybe that should be aeroplane model to aeroplane model, I'm no expert) the amount of available space varies drastically for an economy flight. If your experience of economy is with one of the better airlines where there is more space, then you might think the OP is being unreasonable or exaggerating. However, there genuinely are planes where it is simply too tightly packed and where it is much more inconvenient to have your space diminished, especially with a child. As ninaa wisely said above, the airlines are a bit to blame here.

I love those who assume anyone who doesn't do what they do on planes must be an inexperienced traveller, when they're flying every day of the year and are on first name terms with Richard Branson

Recline your seats and enjoy that extra two inches of room to move your head and shoulders backwards and forwards in. It will just create a domino formation of seat reclining down the cabin. You lose a bit of space because the person in front tilts their seat back, you do the same and get that space back if you're bothered about it.

Apologies - I should have said that either all seats recline (with the exception of the row in front of emergency exit) or they don't. For the many short-haul flights in Europe with fixed seats then its kind of a moot point isn't it - no one is reclining

'Woman in front tried to recline her seat but there was literally no room for her to do so. We couldn't even put the tray down when her seat was fully upright as he had to sit on my knee.'

Boohoo. Next time, stump up for his own seat instead of being so tight.

These threads come up ever few weeks with people acting like someone reclining a seat is akin to assault.

It's a flight, it's temporary, even long haul ones. Get a life.

That's not what I said. I asked you the same question I was asked, that's all.

I would explain if the person in front of me talked to me about their need to recline. If they just reclined their seat without speaking to me I wouldn't feel the need to explain.

expatinscotland the OP has explained that she tried to buy a seat and was refused by Thomas Cook

What a bizarre thread! After a career in aviation, we're now expats and so fly back and forth across the Atlantic frequently and I've never come across seat reclining issues in economy - ever. In fact, the only place I've read about them is on here! If the fault lies with anyone, I'd say it's the cheaper airlines who cram in so many seats that reclining without disturbing your neighbour is impossible.

Careful wibbly you'll be accused of showing off now by using words like 'expat' and 'frequent flyer'

Im cabin crew. This thread makes me feel like I'm at work!! Why do so many people get so het up about reclining seats?? It's the biggest cause of fights onboard overall. I've done flights where we've had to call the police on landing people have got so OTT about seats.

I think it's everyone's prerogative to recline their seats if they want to. Some people, as has been mentioned, have come in from longer flights on short haul too and just want to sleep. People are on different time zones, people have to go straight to work.. Everyone had different reasons and needs when travelling.

I would always ask someone to put their seat forward for the meal services, but if they're asleep, and particularly on a night flight, I'm not waking them up. Same at breakfast time. I will loudly ask if you want breakfast, but I'm unlikely to wake you up (over 50% of people don't like it!) unless you've asked me to earlier. On my airline it's only the (ahem) larger passengers that can't put their table down with the seat in front reclined. The tv's also move angles so you can see them.

Re someone with a child on their lap. We usually do everything we can to move you to a spare seat or front row. We know it's hard with a child on your knee. We know it's hard for those in front. Sometimes on really busy flights (school holidays particularly on certain routes) we won't be able to. In a situation like the OP was in I would have asked the parent if they wanted to go and sit on my jumpseat for an hour, have a bit more room for the toddler, while the person in front got some sleep for an hour. Give all of them a break.

We don't mind people in the galleys asking for drinks and snacks (although we think the ones that do yoga etc are a bit too much). We don't mind people walking around, it's good for you. Just try not todo it mid meal/drink service when the trolleys are out, they're really heavy to have to keep pushing back and forth to let wanderers past. We don't mind call bells, we know people in window seats etc get trapped in the night when the folk next to them are asleep. What does bug us is when people call us for a drink, we go and get it, then their OH next to them says "can you get me one too!" You also find that out of 300+ passengers! it's about 5 that continually press the bell. (And no, the call bell won't turn the volume on your TV up!)