Airplane seats - do you recline them?

Danny_Girl · 29/08/14 - 10:55

Second case of a plane being diverted due to an inflight argument about someone reclining their seat.

http://news.yahoo.com/recline-gate-2-another-plane-diverted-passenger-leans-022221603.html

Personally it totally pisses me off when the person in front fully reclines their seat as soon as possible on a flight. Totally antisocial IMO. If the seat behind is empty then go ahead but if it isn't then recline a bit but not fully. I know someone will say that if everyone does it then no one is worse off but there's always the poor sucker on the last row of the plane who spends the next x hours crammed in his seat.

idlewilde · 29/08/14 - 10:59

Recliners are worse than paedos and people who eat meat, and should be ostracised from society.

Pumping Iron · 29/08/14 - 11:03

Only on long haul night flights when the cabin lights go out.

Radiomaniac · 29/08/14 - 11:08

Never. I have no idea what's going on behind me, the person may be using their tray or need the room. I wouldn't be such a selfish knob. On the shorter flights at least, I think they ought to be made not to be able to recline.

Andrue · 29/08/14 - 11:09

No, I don't. But a thought did occur to me. I commute to work by train and the seats are usually comfortable and don't recline. I realise different construction techniques are needed for safety and weight considerations but how come airline seats never have any lumbar support and me feel like a banana? I have no problems sitting on a train for nearly an hour twice a day reading and think I could snooze if I wanted. After ten minutes in a plane I'm uncomfortable.

Jean-Francois · 29/08/14 - 11:09

Very rarely, and then no more than 5 or 6 cms.
Long haul, no one behind me, then as much as I need,
but always considerate of others.

Pumping Iron · 29/08/14 - 11:16

Radiomaniac wrote: »

Never. I have no idea what's going on behind me, the person may be using their tray or need the room. I wouldn't be such a selfish knob. On the shorter flights at least, I think they ought to be made not to be able to recline.

I suppose you could just look? It might be a small child, a dwarf or even an empty seat!

[Deleted User] · 29/08/14 - 11:16

Radiomaniac wrote: »

Never. I have no idea what's going on behind me, the person may be using their tray or need the room. I wouldn't be such a selfish knob. On the shorter flights at least, I think they ought to be made not to be able to recline.

I never recline either, for just the same reasons. And I don't expect the person in front to do so. I am 6'4" tall and my knees are always wedged in against the seat in front, so it doesn't allow it to be reclined. If they try, they are just jerked forward.

I agree that seats should not recline at all. Ryanair and some others have done away with reclining seats, and they are by no means the worst for legroom. We do always get exit seats on Ryanair though. If you want reclining seats, pay extra and go business class!

idlewilde · 29/08/14 - 11:25

Pumping Iron wrote: »

I suppose you could just look? It might be a small child, a dwarf or even an empty seat!

That happened to me on a flight once. I reclined on a dwarf and he was Grumpy, as soon as I put the seat up again, he was Happy.

Toby LaRhone · 29/08/14 - 11:27

idlewilde wrote: »

That happened to me on a flight once. I reclined on a dwarf and he was Grumpy, as soon as I put the seat up again, he was Happy.

He must have thought you were Dozey.

Pumping Iron · 29/08/14 - 11:28

idlewilde wrote: »

That happened to me on a flight once. I reclined on a dwarf and he was Grumpy, as soon as I put the seat up again, he was Happy.

Haha that made me laugh out loud!

EuanMebabe · 29/08/14 - 11:28

I wouldn't be so selfish as to recline for the entire flight, but if it's longhaul and I need a sleep, I would expect to be able to recline my seat a little for an hour or so without some passive aggressive twonk behind me sneakily using a contraption to stop me. I am by no means unreasonable and if I saw that someone behind me was struggling because of his height or whatever, I probably wouldn't recline at all, but that's my choice, not yours.

jsmith99 · 29/08/14 - 11:46

Billy-One-Ball wrote: »

I................I agree that seats should not recline at all. Ryanair and some others have done away with reclining seats, and they are by no means the worst for legroom. We do always get exit seats on Ryanair though. If you want reclining seats, pay extra and go business class!

None of the airlines I fly with have reclining seats. However, if you are going on a posh plane, with reclining seats, paying for the seat behind you to remain empty would probably be cheaper than business class!

darkthunder35 · 29/08/14 - 11:51

I recline but considerate of others so never take up all the room. Nowadays I always fly business class/premium economy so it's not an issue as the seats are bigger and more comfortable.

Not lime I sleep on a plane - I find it impossible.

BinaryDad · 29/08/14 - 12:03

Yep, I recline even on short haul flights as I normally have a long day (starting at 4am, ending at 10 or 11pm) when I'm on a single-day business trip. I'll have a look behind me first though, to make sure that there IS actually room to recline and I'll do it slowly. I don't fully recline the seat....just enough so that my head won't droop forward should I happen to nod off.

Bio Max · 29/08/14 - 12:27

Radiomaniac wrote: »

Never. I have no idea what's going on behind me, the person may be using their tray or need the room. I wouldn't be such a selfish knob. On the shorter flights at least, I think they ought to be made not to be able to recline.

This.

If there is someone behind me - I don't want to be selfish and 'spoil' their flight.

I hate it when it happens to me - you're cramped enough as it is.

TerraCanis · 29/08/14 - 12:30

I did try to recline the seat once, but it made it too difficult to reach the yoke.

Radiomaniac · 29/08/14 - 13:11

Pumping Iron wrote: »

I suppose you could just look? It might be a small child, a dwarf or even an empty seat!

I wouldn't be so rude as to intrude into what is going on behind me - I wouldn't like anyone checking up on me, so wouldn't do it myself.

Hugh Jboobs · 29/08/14 - 13:40

About time we did this thread again. The last one was only a day or so ago.

Pumping Iron · 29/08/14 - 13:52

Radiomaniac wrote: »

I wouldn't be so rude as to intrude into what is going on behind me - I wouldn't like anyone checking up on me, so wouldn't do it myself.

Turning your head around for a split second isn't rude.

You could even stand up and stretch your legs and look that way.

Yera · 29/08/14 - 14:01

I never meet considerate people on flights- I always sit behind the knob that reclines >:( I would never recline my seat- it really is invading what already little space a person has on a flight

d0lphin · 29/08/14 - 14:08

I only tend to recline if the person in front of me has to give myself a bit more room. However, the person behind me probably wouldn't know that's why I have reclined and probably thinks I'm selfish.

I agree that you shouldn't be able to recline.

[Deleted User] · 29/08/14 - 14:08

I am 6 feet 3',so it is always a crush and very uncomfortable squeezing into a seat on a plane. But what makes it worse is that 9/10 times,the selfish sod in front of me bangs the seat back even before the plane has started moving and is still on the runway! The sooner airlines start making planes with fixed seats (like trains) the better.

MrsWatermelon · 29/08/14 - 15:27

No, I could never be that inconsiderate.

Radiomaniac · 29/08/14 - 15:57

Pumping Iron wrote: »

Turning your head around for a split second isn't rude.

You could even stand up and stretch your legs and look that way.

Let me put it this way then, even if there was a dwarf, a child, a cat or nobody at all, I still wouldn't recline my seat.

I would never travel long haul, I like to keep awake and see what's going on, I don't want to recline, on top of thinking it's inconsiderate.

Pumping Iron · 29/08/14 - 16:02

Radiomaniac wrote: »

Let me put it this way then, even if there was a dwarf, a child, a cat or nobody at all, I still wouldn't recline my seat.

I would never travel long haul, I like to keep awake and see what's going on, I don't want to recline.

Thank you for the explanation makes sense to me now. My family live a 13hrs flight away so I have no option to go long haul. I would only recline my seat when the cabin lights are dimmed for sleeping and I would look behind me first, out of courtesy not to be rude and stare at them. I wouldn't recline though on a short haul flight.

Hey there!

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Airplane seats - do you recline them?

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