<p>“I don’t see how it could be worked out. If I want to recline my seat, and you don’t want me to recline it, there is no compromise that will satisfy both of us. You believe that you have the right to make me (as the potential seat-recliner) less comfortable, and I believe I have the right to make you (as the person behind) less comfortable. If I believe that I have the right to recline, and you believe that you have the right to stop me from reclining, one of us is wrong.”</p>
<p>I think it’s easy to figure out. Some airplanes have very little space in coach, especially in the commuter aircraft. I do not recline in commuters, if I can avoid it. Otherwise, If the person in front of me doesn’t recline, I have more space, and may not need to recline much. I like to recline, I really need it to sleep. But if I look behind me if there is a huge guy with his knees touching the seat, I won’t recline, even though I want to.</p>
<p>And no, I did not say that " people should not recline their seats if other people don’t want them to. But why not, people should recline their seats, and people behind them (who knew that they were getting on a plane with reclining seats) should shut up."</p>
<p>Why do you try to claim that someone says something they didn’t? Why rephrase what someone said with your own words that are completely inaccurate? I said to be nice, and considerate to those around you. Whether you are the recliner or the person being reclined on. Doesn’t seem very controversial.</p>
<p>This must have been quite a scene to witness. I’m in the no-reclining camp. Out of curiosity, for those who do recline, if someone politely asked you to not recline, how would you respond? </p>
<p>I don’t recline. I actually forget seats recline which must mean people don’t recline in front of me either. </p>
<p>What drives me nuts is that seats are so narrow that even normal men’s shoulders don’t fit in them. So they are part way in my seat even though they can’t help it. At this point I will drive almost anywhere rather than fly if I can. </p>
<p>I still fly at least once a month and I keep wondering how small a seat is too small for your average size guy? </p>
<p>Short-haul flights: I don’t recline
Long-haul & int’l flights: I recline (but I make exceptions for the Harlem Globetrotters)
Mealtime: I put the seat back up </p>
<p>On an int’l flight to Narita, the Harlem Globetrotters were seated in Cattle Class w us. These poor guys weren’t even in economy-plus. It was like watching a circus contortionist act to see a 7-foot guy wedged in the seat-- wow… </p>
<p>While I have sympathy for tall people, I have BIG FAT ZERO sympathy for people “working” on their laptops. Dude, your lack of time-management skills on the ground does not supercede my right to recline and sleep. And if it’s that urgent, then get your employer to buy you a 1st/Bz class seat. </p>
<p>I like to recline just an inch or two because it’s more comfortable on my back that the “fully upright position”. The only time I have ever tried to really recline was on a red eye. In the scuffle detailed above the guy behind was trying to work on his laptop which makes me think he should have booked a more spacious seat if he knew he was planning to work. In an economy seat with a standard sized laptop there isn’t much room to have it fully open to begin with.</p>
<p>I rarely recline. I’m a nervous flyer and I’d rather stay upright. I’m always reading (calms me down) and it’s really uncomfortable when someone reclines so far back that I have a hard time just holding my book.</p>
<p>@saintfan, both pax involved in the spat were seated in economy-plus, w 4" add’l legroom. Seems to me that the guy was deliberately staging a confrontation.</p>
<p>I usually don’t recline except on transatlantic flights, where it may just tilt the seat a little just to give my spine a rest. </p>
<p>However, there is one exception: certain planes, particularly older ones, are built exclusively for tall people (I presume back when the majority of business travelers were men?). These seats have a very pronounced pillow built into the seat back. For taller people it might be very comfortable as it might support their necks. But for shorter folks like me, it hits me right in the middle of the head. Imagine sitting straight up, but with your head push forward. Amazingly uncomfortable. </p>
Lab budgets are tight - too tight to pay for business class. DH spends all his waking hours on his lap top, it’s not poor planning, it’s his life. That said, I’m in the if the seat reclines you should be able to use it unless the airlines makes some blanket announcement. I recline for long flights and don’t recline at mealtimes. I think the culprit here though is the airlines who have squashed too many people on the planes. And I agree 100% that seats are too narrow too. I’m 5’-6" and weigh under 130 pounds - if those seats are a squeeze for me, most Americans are going to be more uncomfortable than I am.</p>
<p>The general airline rules are - 1) you can recline during most of the flight, 2) anti-reclining devices are not permitted, 3) during meal service, you cannot recline.</p>
<p>Even as a recliner, I will withdraw at someone’s sincere and polite request, but I will withdraw much less if I am being squashed in turn by the seat in front. If someone ‘requests’ by kicking, gosh my seat will be all the way back for the whole flight, even when I am spending an hour or two chatting in the galley area.</p>
<p>This is a ridiculous statement. I work on my laptop (usually my iPad now because it takes MUCH less room) on most of my flights. I will recline about halfway or less, and usually if the person in front of me reclines into my space. I believe all passengers have a right to recline, but I try to be considerate.</p>
<p>It isn’t a matter of time management skills- it is a matter of utilizing some nice, uninterrupted time to answer emails (assuming it’s a wifi flight) and get some work done after what might have been a busy work day in the field or in a deposition where I was not able to respond to people. And if I also want to catch up on CC or facebook, great! I have as much right to work on my iPad within the confines of my little space as someone does to spread out their smelly lunch of deal with their toddler who is bouncing around.</p>
<p>I only recline enough to change the angle on my neck from fully upright, but not enough to impinge on the person behind me. However, I do think that people should always look behind before reclining. I once saw someone recline fully when the person behind had bent over to pick something up and got smashed in the face. No reason for that. Just make sure the person behind you is seated and not bending over or otherwise doing something quickly that you should wait for.</p>
<p>When my kid was about a year old, we had to travel on a plane. I had my one-year old in my arms. In front of us was a family of four, two of them kids. All of them kept their seats reclied all the way. Kids weren’t even there most of the time visiting extended family somewhere else. Least considerate people I ever encountered in air travel.</p>
<p>Oh my gosh, yes. I have really broad shoulders for a woman. Sometimes, especially if I’m sitting in the middle, there’s just no room for me and my seatmates to sit normally three across. Reclining one of the seats can help stagger our shoulders so we don’t have to squeeze ourselves in sideways.</p>
<p>I am unpersuaded by people who don’t want to recline their seats because for some reason it doesn’t affect their comfort much, and who therefore think that I shouldn’t want to recline mine. Or that I should be “nice.” Interesting that many of those same people don’t exhibit their niceness when it comes to something other people want and they don’t. For example, airlines constantly plead for people to be “nice” and share the overhead bins. But it never happens: the first people on the plane hog all the space, and by the time the last people board, all the overhead bins are full. Or, when flights are full, the airlines ask people to be “nice,” and wait to deplane if they don’t have connecting flights, letting people who might miss their flights to get off more quickly. Nope, these same people whose laptop use is so sacred also feel that getting to their rental car five minutes earlier is more important than someone else making a flight.</p>
I recognize that I am a very small person, so I do try to be considerate because it doesn’t cause me any harm. When seats are reclined all the way, my feet don’t come near hitting the floor which puts uncomfortable pressure on my hamstrings. So I sit up because it’s better for me and everyone else.I also generally recognize that my seat, whether on a plane or bus, is probably going to be taken over partly by someone else even without that person being a jerk. I don’t see any reason not to be considerate, but lot of people just won’t do it even if it costs them nothing. My personal pet peeve is the person who spreads his legs so far apart that they take up all of your floor space and you can’t put your feet down. Talk about uncomfortable! I think they should be tarred and feathered.</p>
<p>Zoos, I’m sure that you are in general a nice, kind and considerate person, but in the matter of reclining, I don’t see how trying to be considerate comes into play. You don’t want to recline the seat, and you don’t. How is that being considerate?</p>
<p>It seems to me that the problem is that the idea of “being nice” is simply lost on some people. I was on the train not too long ago, and a guy in front of me kept his seat completely reclined the whole time even when he was sitting up eating. It wasn’t completely intolerable, so I didn’t say anything, but I thought he was a selfish, thoughtless jerk. I have been on a plane a few times in seats that didn’t recline at all. If the person in front of you reclines all the way, it’s torture. I, personally, never recline more than an inch or two unless the seat behind me is empty.</p>
I was talking about the whole seating experience in terms of being considerate. Understanding that people are going to almost always spread on my seat and letting it go.</p>