Flying is a stressful ordeal, and when it’s possible—especially on a long-haul flight—people want to kick back and relax. But in today’s tightly packed plane cabins, one passenger’s comfort is often another’s discomfort.
The moment a passenger decides to recline their seat on a plane, they will unavoidably take away some, if not most, of the personal space from the passenger sitting behind them. As a flight attendant with six years’ experience working for a major international airline, I regularly deal with passengers arguing over when it’s appropriate to exercise this right to recline.
I remember flying from Bangkok to Sydney when a passenger got up and began whacking the passenger in front of them with a rolled-up in-flight magazine simply for reclining their seat. Ask any flight attendant; we all have similar horror stories. (It doesn’t help that recent years have seen an increasing number of disruptive passengers, according to Federal Aviation Administration data.)
Flight attendants take resolving any form of disruption very seriously: the well-being and safety of passengers is our top priority. In this case, for reclining seats, it really depends on what elements you have at play. Sometimes a conversation with both passengers suffices; other times you remove the offended passenger to a separate seat. Occasionally, you just have to put your foot down and remind everyone that certain types of behavior are simply unacceptable.
In my experience, a lot of the time, it’s rarely about the reclined seat—there are underlying motivations for the stress, and the reclined seat simply serves as a trigger. Traveling can be tiring and stressful, and sometimes people just need an excuse to vent their frustrations.
With the increase in disruptions related to seat reclining, more airlines have eliminated the ability to recline entirely (which also doubles as a cost-cutting measure). Nowadays, most low-cost carriers don’t have seat recline, and airlines like Delta have reduced the seat recline pitch from four to two inches. Some passengers have even taken matters into their own hands by using devices that impede seat reclining, called “’knee defenders.” While this may appear to be a fun travel hack, we don’t recommend using the controversial gadget, which is banned by many airlines. (In 2014, it even caused United Airlines Flight 1462 from Newark to Denver to be diverted to Chicago after a fight erupted between two passengers over the use of such a device.)
Perhaps the best solution so far has been the introduction of shell seats to premium economy cabins. Used by airlines like Air France, Japan Airlines, and China Airlines, shell seats allow you to recline forward into your legroom instead of encroaching backward into the passenger behind you.
There are pros and cons to every potential solution, and the debate over seat reclining is unlikely to be resolved soon. There is a delicate balance between personal comfort and collective courtesy—as flight attendants, we ask passengers to navigate this balance with empathy and understanding.
When and how to recline your seat on a plane
Airplane seat recline has become a heavily polarized debate, with few people occupying middle ground. Some people don’t care if you recline your seat because they will likely recline theirs, too. Others will make sure you know just how unhappy they are with your choice.
