Angry woman on plane, Was we BU?

[Raynaud]

7 hour flight with DH and DS(4). As soon as seatbelt lights went off DH fully reclined exhausted DSs seat so he could sleep. The woman behind snapped at DH to put the seat back up as drinks would be coming around soon. DH said no as drinks currently not being served. She called him a selfish twat to her OH.
Drinks/snacks start coming around. Woman tells DH to put the seat back up. DH put the seat back up half way so to not wake DS. She tells him to put it fully up. He tells her DS is sleeping. Her OH then tells her to speak to steward which she does. Steward asks DH to put the seat back up - he tells her DS is sleeping. I tell him to just put it back up, he again says DS is sleeping. Air Steward starts getting pissed off, I snap at DH to put the bloody seat up. He does so reluctantly and DS does not wake.

Once everything is cleared away he puts the seat fully back again. The woman complains that he’s doing that out of badness because “the kid” is still asleep. Her OH confirms that yes, DH is a twat.

My take on it is that both were being unreasonable at different times. My sister however says this was all on DH.

And that’s fine - until refreshments are served

Your kid sleeping does not trump the woman’s comfort. You and your husband are ridiculous to think that it does

Not really. That’s why you’re asked to put your seat in the upright position when they’re serving food and drinks.

Def your DH. I dig my legs / feet right into cheeky fuckers who recline on flights and then I push the seat right back up. Can't stand the selfish twattedness of it.

At the poor woman in the row behind you can take comfort in the fact that she's not married to your arsehole of a husband.

If the seat wasn’t meant to recline, it wouldn’t have the recline feature.

Yes they should be upright during meals but all other times, they can be used as necessary whether it’s a day or night flight.

I’ve never seen a rule on any airline that provides seat reclines can only happen overnight and the steward made matters worse IMO.

When has anyone ever been comfortable sleeping in a plane seat anyway??

Oh god as soon as the seat belt lights went off? 7 hours of that? Just no.

This ⬆️. Your husband is a complete and utter arsehole

This, surely this is what anyone would do for a child who wants a nap on a day flight? They lay across their seat head in a lap

They’re really annoying, but it’s allowed. But the person behind you has even less room, we never do it. I cwtch DD up on me with her legs on DH (which is incredibly uncomfortable) but I know it’s awful to basically have someone’s head in your face the entire journey- which is why we’ve only done 4 hour flight max lol She’s 9 now and just cwtches herself in the corner seat to sleep.

Both a bit UR, a tired child is difficult to handle, so I’d happily let him recline to get off to sleep. But DH should’ve put the seat back for drinks.

I had this on a flight from nyc to London last year and it was shit.

The young man reclined as soon as we left until we landed. And I had to ask the cabin crew to ask him to straighten up each time a meal came. Why couldn’t he just do it himself without being asked? It was so rude. Yeah he’s allowed to recline but not during mealtimes.

As annoying as I find it I do accept it’s the fault of the airlines for how they’ve even enabled chairs to recline that much and how little space is left on economy when someone in front of you reclines and you haven’t.

But I can blame passengers who don’t put their chairs back up at meal times! And I do feel the airlines, having created this situation, should at least remind everyone to put their chairs upright when serving food and drinks.
Instead it’s left to passengers to argue among themselves or request the cabin crew intervene.

There used to be an announcement every meal time for people to make sure their chairs are upright but I’ve not heard them for a while.

I don't get why the op's husband is getting a hard time. If you can recline the seat then that's what it's for,right?

Your husband put it back the second time out of pure spite. My arse about his neck.
I always wonder what a person who is happy to be visibly spiteful to strangers in front of wife and son, is like behind closed doors. I wouldn’t want to be married to a man like this.

I expect the person who is reclining the seat, using the in built seat recline function, may think you’re the selfish one.

Because it’s not really necessary for a 4 year old and he refused to put it upright when refreshments were served.

I bloody hate it when people fully recline their seat . The person behind has no leg room , limited body space and the table / tray becomes too close to be useful . I don’t recline my seat because it’s not fair

You and your DH were unreasonable.

Your DH purposefully reclined the seat with the intention of DS falling asleep - knowing he would resist putting the seat back so as to not wake DS. He had no intention of putting it back up. Drinks service was about to happen, he was chancing his luck and was incredibly rude.

Your defending this situation and his terrible attitude was rude. You are both entitled and bloody selfish.

But not during neals/drinks, especially when told to put it upright by the flight attendant

Am I the only person not particularly bothered if the person in front of me reclines? Doesn’t stop me from drinking my wine or reading my book…

If there are rules about when you can recline, the airlines should announce them as part of the welcome to the flight. Something about air travel - (maybe heightened anxiety?!) - makes people act in odd ways, so we seem to need rules to follow.

Saying all that, I never recline my own seat as I don’t want to end up in an argument with the person behind.

I was on an early short haul many years ago - right after take off lady in front reclined . Row behind me was empty so when they started servig food I said to the steward "As she wants to sleep can I move to the row behind so I dont disturb ( and I need coffee)?" . I did and did the rest of the flight there - Steward and passengers ( American Airlines staff) exchanged a few words and I got a couple of glances - When we got off on the walkway American Airlines staff called me a rude b*tch to which I was like WTF I was doing you a favour. ANyway later years I became a travel agent ( own buisness and I have never ever booked anyone on American Airlines and never will ..Petty maybe but its a tiny revenge!...For Me I woudl have put seat up during food but that is as I am a considerate person !

But why, if you can just recline your own seat too ? Except meal times of course . People need to sleep, even during the day if they’ve been up very early or are on a different time zone or a connecting flight - or in the least rest their backs and not be sat bolt upright on a long flight.

This.

I was on a budget flight recently, can’t remember what airline but the seats didn’t recline at all and I was so relieved.

Did your son wake with a stiff neck?