Are you an aeroplane seat recliner??

[Sotuko]

If so, do you not feel a bit guilty about the poor sod sat behind you who now has even less space than they had before??

I don't understand why airlines still allow this, there isn't the room for it!

During a long flight last night/this morning/I don't know I've lost all track of time, I wasn't able to use my telly as the woman in front made sure it was RIGHT in my face and don't even get me started on meal time.

So are you a seat recliner and if so, do you think about the impact on the person behind you?

Ok, so it can be an issue for very uncommonly tall people. For the vast majority it really makes no difference. Unless you go the whole way in brace position, which apparently some MNers do. Bloody hell.

You know, I really hope that on my next flight I see one of these militant anti recliners in action. Sticking books and hairbrushes in the smalls of their own backs because they think it will be unbearable to the person behind them, like a crap princess and the pea story. Holding the brace position for nine hours against a reclined seat in front of them to make some sort of ridiculous point. I've never seen anything like it. It would beat all the rubbish films on the entertainment system. I'm flying for Christmas, so here's hoping!

Visions of mumsnetters in brace position and freakishly tall DHs...

I recline for night flights (never during meals) and usually have a dc on my lap. Want more space? Pay for business class. Oh and you can tilt your tv screen so a reclined seat shouldn’t make a difference.

My husband is 6"5, it might not affect legroom for someone of average height but for him it does. It really hurts him every time someone slams their seat back into his knees. Then they proceed to bounce against them every time they lean forwards and back again

They always slam their seat do they?

Seats have a recline button for a reason. -so they can be reclined !
As long as the seat in front puts the seat up during mealtimes then it doesn't bother me if they recline.
Since I have a bad back and hip I will recline on a flight at times to stop it ceasing up.

Those of you saying you will stop the person in front reclining by hitting the seat, pushing it or sticking objects to prevent the recline, you do realise you can be reported for it ?

Seats also have a table so it can be used.

Personally I don't because space is limited enough and I hate it when the person in front does it. For that reason, on long haul I book the back seat so if the one in front reclines I can also recline and not worry about those behind. I now do short haul with Jet2 because I found their seats are fixed and don't recline which somehow feels more spacious!? I don't know if any other airlines now do same?

Those of you saying you will stop the person in front reclining by hitting the seat, pushing it or sticking objects to prevent the recline, you do realise you can be reported for it ?

I think you'll find it was a recliner person who was sticking objects at the back of their seats (hairbrushes and books) to inflict extra pain on the knees of the poor person sitting behind.

I think you'll also find that it was a recliner who said that if they were asked not to recline, that they'd do it extra hard when a drink was being poured to make sure it went over the persons lap behind.

I think you'll find it was a recliner person who was sticking objects at the back of their seats (hairbrushes and books) to inflict extra pain on the knees of the poor person sitting behind.

In which instance? Or are you speaking in generalities, i.e. recliners tend to prod the people behind them with hairbrushes?

Ah, I'll think of this thread tonight, as I recline my seat. I'm off on a long haul night flight... I'll be sure to count the number of non recliners and report back.

Prediction: 0

In which instance? Or are you speaking in generalities, i.e. recliners tend to prod the people behind them with hairbrushes?

I'm just quoting what some recliners said earlier in the thread.

Totally wrong

This is to prevent being kneed in the back and only done if the person behind is being obnoxious and insisting on pressing their knees into the back of your seat. Nobody has to put up with this sort of behaviour. The book just means they encounter a hard and inflexible surface which acts as a deterrant from deliberately hurting the person in front

It was when I said I've got tall legs and they will get push towards the seat in front if it reclines, that someone suggested they would put a hairbrush there to inflict more pain on purpose.

This again?

Yes, I have paid for a reclining seat and I recline it at every opportunity. My back hurts and I am in a lot of pain if I don't do so.
I move it to the upright position for mealtimes, take-off and landing.

The person behind me is equally entitled to recline his seat, so I am not encroaching on 'his' space.

Perhaps airlines should start offering 'reclining' and 'non reclining' sections.

How predictable that a community like this determines that I am in the wrong. Sad.

This is getting as bad as Brexit

How predictable that a community like this determines that I am in the wrong. Sad.

If the crew actually gave you a warning, threatened to call airport security, upgraded the woman in front of you as compensation for your behaviour, and stopped serving your husband alcohol - I can only imagine how shocking your behaviour must have been.

I wonder what people think the intersection between leave voters and seat recliners is :)

My husband is 6"5, it might not affect legroom for someone of average height but for him it does
I am also 6’5” and I have no objection to people using their reclining seats, the toilets, reading light, call button etc.

People are perfectly entitled to recline their seat.
Other people are perfectly entitled to think they are selfish, annoying and inconsiderate.

Why the fuck do people put themselves through this?

To see the world, obviously! I do long-haul economy class flying all the time. I find the whole thing amazing. If the seat feels cramped I get up and walk about. If the person in front reclines, I recline. If I can't sleep, I watch a film or listen to music. Every now and then someone delivers food and drinks to me. I think about all the things I'm going to see and do in wherever I'm going. Before I know it we're beginning our descent.

I was always brought up with the mantra that just because you can do something does not mean you should. But then I have an upbringing which puts putting other people before your own comfort to a crazy level (my parents wouldn't tolerate my wedding being 1pm because some people work on a saturday morning, have to lose a days pay etc to come to the wedding, you have to think of your guests. So 3pm it was)
I'm short so reclining seats don't bother me too much, but I do think that a bit of common courtesy of just checking that the person behind isn't bending down, or has a sleeping child on their knee really doesn't take more than a few seconds. Of course they may say no and then you feel bad etc, but i've rarely known anyone ever say no outright when faced with a bit of warning that a seat is going to be reclined. I only ever recline at nighttime when lights are dimmed etc. I know that on some seats when you press the button the chair whizzes back at record speed, on other occassions you have to lean into the chair and push it back with your body weight which is why when reclining I always let the person know - although they are often already asleep as I don't sleep well on planes and don't recline till well into the dark stage of the flight. I don't care how jetlagged and tired I am from travelling other than that I just don't do it unless its a night flight and lights are dimmed by cabin crew. Perhaps because for the last 20 years I've travelled with my husband who is 6'6" and like a previous poster a 36" inside leg. His knees are almost always agains the seat in front. We laugh as I have so much room compared to him. Frequently now if at all possible we will book seats so that I am in front of him and I know that I won't recline on him, as the amount of people who somehow think it is purely badness that his knees are where they are - he can't take them off and attach them to his ears! They are where they are. He tends not to stick his size 15 seat in the aisles either as that is a definate trip hazard. Since our earliest days of travelling we've booked emergency exit or extra legroom seats. Its a pain to be financially penalised for being tall but we are used to it now. Where possible we travel premium economy or equivalent. First and Business class are just unaffordable to us. Travelling now with children we are no longer able to take the emergency exit rows and we hit on a problem recently on a Thomas Cook flight to Orlando where we had done the best we could, booked flights in the PE cabin (no further upgrades possible) and the lady in front of my daughter next to me slammed the seat back as soon as the seatbelt sign went off. It was a 10am flight and through the journey it was apparant they were on a single leg journey and had travelled a short distance to the airport - so no long layovers, jet lag or anything, just in my view a rather abrupt and rude lady. She's entitled to do so of course, that I do not disagree I just always think it is nice to acknowledge when you are doing something that will possibly inconvenience or worse potentially hurt a fellow human being. I can't understand why people don't see that as just good manners. People refusing to allow other to recline and making life difficult is also bad manners. A little bit of compromise goes a long way. Later in our flight when the kids had swapped so they were sitting together and we were too, after the meal service she did the same again and this time whacked my husbands knees so much that he yelled out and he's a rugby player so it takes a bit to hurt him, and she accused him or being rude, told him to move, she was entitled to put her seat back to which he just shrugged his shoulders and said well that's where my legs are, not much I can do about it. She then spouted on about how we should have booked extra legroom seats then (again, not easy when travelling with two children who don't have the capacity to open doors and therefore against aviation rules) I wanted to contact cabin crew as she was agressive and diffcult and physically causing pain but my husband is quite chilled about this stuff and didn't want to make a fuss. The next thing we know she has spoken to staff and she is entitled to put her seat back you know, (no-one said she wasn't), she was just causing pain when she did so. But you know, don't worry because its your right to do so. Sigh. Just a bit of communication goes a long way, hubby swapped back out and sat behind me for the remaining 6 odd hours.

On the return flight home it was an overnight flight and lady in front checked it was ok to pop seat back which of course it was and there it remained for the next 7 odd hours with a couple of breaks in between for meals. No problem. The problem is mainly, in my experience, the way people talk, or don't talk, to each other. People spend a lot of money on flights, no-one's right trump anyone elses. But just have some manners and a bit compassion when needed. I once travelled behind a family with a, possibly autistic, large child - maybe 14/15. The family had a purple band whcih I think signals autism, or it may be some other form of special needs. I'm not sure how they managed for take off, I wasn't paying much attention, but shortly after take off this very large child was laid across the lap of the adult male he was with and empty seat that was meant to be in, and he rocked and he wriggled and writhed, you could hear the seats in front of him being whacked and never once did that person in front complain or even look round. Not an easy flight for anyone around that family, but everyone did their best to support them and not make their life any more difficult. I can only imagine what would have happened if that person had invoked their right to recline their seat.....