Reclining seats on planes

stickyfiddle

The DM has just put up an article about reclining seats on planes and it made me wonder people's thoughts? Some seem to get really irate about the person in front of them reclining, some won't move theirs out of consideration for the person behind (aka fear they'll piss them off?)

Personally I don't tend to recline often on a day-time flight, and never on a short journey, but if I'm on an 8 hour night-flight there's no way I'm staying upright the whole way. The people in front and behind have paid just as much for their equally-moveable seats so they are free to do what they like.

bertie

the 'issue'  as I see it, is the lack of communication from person in front to person behind, to check  theres nothing on the 'table' that could be displaced.

TimmyO

Modern seats don't have the problem with disrupting the table behind - I think that's a thing of the past tbh 

boogieman

Its the lack of choice that annoys me. I'm tall. If the bloke in front of me reclines his seat I have no choice but to recline mine or the seat back is virtually touching my face. Chain reaction time.

Long plane journeys piss me off, I feel like a bloody veal calf in its stall. I really do think there should be bigger spaces between the seats on long haul flights. And yeah I know it's never going to happen whilst they can charge a huge amount more to upgrade to first class.

VimFuego

all this would be avoided (and the whole business of long haul flying would be made much more enjoyable) if they brought back trans oceanic zeppelin flights. A much more civilised way to travel.

Axe_meister

On my flight back from new york, the girl next to me kindly asked if the person in front could put their seat forward whilst she was eating her dinner.

The reply back was "Fuck off". Nice!

stickyfiddle

TimmyO said:

Modern seats don't have the problem with disrupting the table behind - I think that's a thing of the past tbh 

Exactly - it's been years since I flew on anything where the table moved when you reclined. I can't help thinking most people in that survey are just selfish muppets who hardly ever fly.

Jalapeno

If your seat backs onto a bulkhead it often does not recline - then you're sandwiched.

I've got long legs - I make use of my knees - that's if the guy infront hasn't shattered my kneecaps when reclining

GuitarMonkey

boogieman said:

Its the lack of choice that annoys me. I'm tall. If the bloke in front of me reclines his seat I have no choice but to recline mine or the seat back is virtually touching my face. Chain reaction time.

Same thing if the person in front stands up at a seated gig. 

maltingsaudio

Janis Long was discussing this on her show last night guess the DM were listening

bertie

TimmyO;47565" said:

Modern seats don't have the problem with disrupting the table behind - I think that's a thing of the past tbh 

Its happened every time Ive flown,  last time I flew was june 2012, and it certainly happened then

scrumhalf

There's a curious correlation between how the person in front of me reclines (when, how much, etc.) and how vigorously I need to touch the screen of the in-flight entertainment thingy. Sometimes the damn things just won't respond to a normal touch and you have to give them a bit of a wallop.

It's around the same time that my knees get all achy and I have to grip hard on the seat in front to get up and either stretch my legs or use the lav. And, another unbelievable co-incidence, I tend to get really thirsty as well, necessitating lots of fluids and lav trips.

Yet, when the person in front is reasonable, the IFE thing works fine, my knees are okay and I'm not parched.

Would you credit it, eh?

TimmyO

bertie said:

TimmyO;47565" said:

Modern seats don't have the problem with disrupting the table behind - I think that's a thing of the past tbh 

Its happened every time Ive flown,  last time I flew was june 2012, and it certainly happened then

Last time you flew Pontius was a Pilot you old git  

Sporky

I thought that while the reclining doesn't result in the table moving directly, the table can and does bounce when the seat hits its stops if it does so quickly?

Col_Decker

I hate it when people recline their seat infront of me, its an invasion of my personal space. Reclining seats are for fatties.

Emp_Fab

I just ask the person behind if they mind if I recline my seat.  They never say no, and as they have given their consent, they can't moan about it later.  Simples !

holnrew

I don't recline because I'm not a cunt.

Deadman

Emp_Fab said:

I just ask the person behind if they mind if I recline my seat.  They never say no, and as they have given their consent, they can't moan about it later.  Simples !

Textbook approach.

Lodious

I find the Daily Mail a lot more offensive than a seat in the face :-)

 

Personally, I think it's OK to recline on a long haul flight. I def. don't think it's grounds for being pissed off if the person in front reclines. Tables don't move on United 747's...and they are about as bad a plane that's flying are the moment.

StefB

Worse than any of this is when some big bloke walks the entire length of the cabin en route for a piss, grabbing the corner of every alternate headrest on his way past as if it were a bannister.

scrumhalf

Sometimes it's the seat that's the problem.

On Royal Air Maroc last year I had a seat that wouldn't recline on the flight out and a seat that wouldn't stay upright on the way back.

On the plus side, on average they cancelled each other out.