Two flights. Two grounded planes. Four angry passengers, one of them with a wet shirt. Two planes worth of delayed passengers. And one big question: Is it okay to recline your seat on a flight?
I am referring to the two incidents a couple of weeks ago involving the issue of reclining a seat on a flight. The first event took place on a United Airlines flight and involved a Knee Defender, a device that a passenger can secure to the tray table to restrict the seat in front of them from reclining. The plane en route to Denver was grounded in Chicago when two passengers had a fight over the use of the device. That fight ended when the passenger seated in front angrily doused the Knee Defender’s owner with a cup of water. Neither passenger made it to Denver that night.
The second incident occurred on an American Airlines flight on its way to Europe. The Knee Defender wasn’t involved but a short temper was. This time the result was grounding the plane bound for Paris in Boston because a man took issue that the woman in front of him reclined her seat, later starting a struggle with a member of the flight crew. The passenger was arrested in Boston.
Let me coin the phrase for the first time, “Seat rage” (lol)!
In both cases, the police said that it was a “Customer Service” issue. I say it’s an issue about being polite.
If something as little as legroom disputes have escalated to the point that they can ground a flight, it might be an indication that the Customer Experience needs a little attention. I’d wager that neither of these instances would have occurred if there were a little more “wiggle room” in the space between your precious Patella and the hardest plastic known to man.
Tempers are flaring; planes are making unscheduled stops, and airline expenses are rising. Not to mention the poor experience had by every other passenger on the flight.
Who is to blame here? Is it the parents of these people who didn’t teach these passengers basic manners? My view is that for flights two hours or fewer people shouldn’t recline seats. If they want to, however, then it is polite to ask the person behind you to prevent rammed knees and spilled drinks.
Or if someone has put his or her seat back then surely a simple request to the other, maybe with the magic word is most appropriate. “Pardon me, would you mind terribly putting your seat back up, please?” might have done the trick. My mum was a big believer in manners . She would have told me, “Colin, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.”
The airlines are not blameless in this either. Is the problem how airlines in their pursuit of profits have squeezed more and more rows of seats in planes, cramming their passengers in more and more tightly? Add to it that the average size of people is on the rise in many countries and you have a recipe for problems. In such close quarters, it is only a matter of time before the niceties become strained, and the fisticuffs fly.
Also what of this Knee Defender? In a recent BBC Radio show, a former flight attendant, Lexi Hambro, pointed out that the Knee Defender is a safety concern. The Knee Defender is locked with a key. So in the event of an emergency, this would need to be unlocked and removed so the passengers in the row can evacuate as quickly as possible. As Hambro points out, what happens if the key gets lost or dropped in the mayhem?
The thing is these contraptions are not even necessary. A little birdie told me that you could put something under the latch to keep the seat in front of you from coming back. You can use a bottle of water, or even a book, wedge in under the latch for the tray table and voila! The seat is stationary. At least if you do this, the person in front would have to have a conversation with you about reclining their seat, before doing it.
So is it okay to recline your seat on a flight? The thing is I understand both sides of this argument. Many times I have been working on my laptop and then wham! The seat goes back in front of me trapping my computer. It’s annoying. On the other hand, I don’t usually recline my seat. Even so, I wouldn’t fancy having the customer behind me restrict me from doing it with a Knee Defender (or book or water bottle) without so much as a please or thank you, either.
Surely the answer is, “Do as you would be done by,” and just be polite to each other. Especially in such cramped conditions.
Should people recline their seats on a flight or not? I’d be interested to hear your opinion in the comments below.
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Colin Shaw is the founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy, one of the world’s first organizations devoted to customer experience. Colin is an international author of four bestselling books and an engaging keynote speaker. To read more from Colin on LinkedIn, connect with him by clicking the follow button above or below. If you would like to follow Beyond Philosophy click here
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