Fights breaking out over legroom

Not a Coach wrote:

IF someone is that bothered, why not pay the extra $50 to get a seat with more legroom?

Because people are selfish boars. They want legroom and they want cheap tickets. But you can't have your cake and eat it too.

The reason airline tickets are not more than they already are is because they've squeezed rows together by a few inches to add a couple more rows to get more people on the planes.

I hardly notice when someone reclines in front of me and have no stress reclining my seat. Where are you guys sitting in such impossibly cramped seats?

I think it's common courtesy to not recline the seats more than halfway unless there's no one sitting behind you. I can't actually think of a time someone reclined all the way into my legs, but I don't really fly that often either. If someone did and it was a problem, I would probably just ask them to move their seat up a little so that I could actually move my legs. Not a lot fires me up, so I see this is mostly a non-issue.

Learn some manners child wrote:

That's quite a stretch to equate reclining a seat to picking your nose and passing gas. Is that some kind of weird logic you learned in liberal arts college?

Not a stretch at all. Each act, including reclining, is rude and inconsiderate.[/quote]

Pull your head out of your a$$, son. If I paid for a seat that reclines and I want to recline it, I will do so. The same goes for the person in front of me, even tho it will probably intrude into my space. It's a sad state of PC affairs if someone considers reclining their seat WHICH WAS DESIGNED TO RECLINE AND FOR WHICH THEY PAID THEIR FARE as rude and inconsiderate. Grow a pair.

I'm a very long legged 6'6". My legs literally will not fit in a regular coach seat. Well, I can jam my knees up against the seat in front for takeoff. 80% of the time they'll give me an exit row for free when they see me at the gate, but sometimes I can't get one.

If someone tries to recline, the seat just hits my legs and won't move. If they persist in trying, I'll tell the person "I'm sorry, but you cannot recline". I'm always very polite and I've never had anyone argue with me about it. Can't imagine getting in a fight, but they just physically cannot recline if I'm behind them and, like I said, it's happened many times and I've never had anyone protest.

Not a Coach wrote:

IF someone is that bothered, why not pay the extra $50 to get a seat with more legroom?

$50 is a lot of money for a couple hours and international flights are much more. My corporate card is coded so I cannot put an upgrade, even $50, on it and they won't reimburse me if I pay for it. They don't care if I buy a $400 or a $900 ticket for the same route to get the airline or schedule I want, but they won't pay the $50 extra and I'm too cheap, plus $50 several times a month adds up quick.

post hole digger wrote:

I'm a very long legged 6'6". My legs literally will not fit in a regular coach seat. Well, I can jam my knees up against the seat in front for takeoff. 80% of the time they'll give me an exit row for free when they see me at the gate, but sometimes I can't get one.

If someone tries to recline, the seat just hits my legs and won't move. If they persist in trying, I'll tell the person "I'm sorry, but you cannot recline". I'm always very polite and I've never had anyone argue with me about it. Can't imagine getting in a fight, but they just physically cannot recline if I'm behind them and, like I said, it's happened many times and I've never had anyone protest.

I'm in the same boat, just over 6'4 with mostly legs. The row in front is in my knees even if they're upright. Any reclining at all is stopped immediately by legs. Usually after 1-2 attempts the person turns around and notices my legs and apologizes.

Straight outta LA wrote:

Pull your head out of your a$$, son. If I paid for a seat that reclines and I want to recline it, I will do so. The same goes for the person in front of me, even tho it will probably intrude into my space. It's a sad state of PC affairs if someone considers reclining their seat WHICH WAS DESIGNED TO RECLINE AND FOR WHICH THEY PAID THEIR FARE as rude and inconsiderate. Grow a pair.

I agree with the others who are attempting to make you understand the other side of the argument. I am only 6-1 but my knees are also right against the seat in front of me.

If you keep your seat upright, you are a bit uncomfortable. If you lean back, I am in pain. You may have paid for a seat that reclines but I paid for a pain free seat!

Too bad for all you tall people being squashed on planes.

Being shorter DOES have its advantages.

1) I don't get squashed on planes.

2) My bed is big and comfortable.

3) My recliner actually fits me -- my legs don't drape over the end like many of you.

4) Statistically I will live longer.

Not a Coach wrote:

IF someone is that bothered, why not pay the extra $50 to get a seat with more legroom?

Being 6'5" I always buy "premium economy" when available for a reasonable price. That is a fair offer.

Some planes don't offer this. On most planes though, if you recline your seat and the guy in front of you does, too, you'll end up with the same leg room as if both were not reclined.

There are some planes (mostly commuter planes) where a reclining seat in front of me would crush my knees. Talking to them pretty much always solved the problem.

No need for a "knee defender".

Why do the U.S. feel the need for more statistics majors.

Not a Coach wrote:

IF someone is that bothered, why not pay the extra $50 to get a seat with more legroom?

Not always an option.

Here is the knee defender guy's side of the story. The woman in the story sounds like a real nut job.

T he real issue here is not the people on the plane. The problem is that airplanes continue to use reclining seats even though they have no business doing so.

If the plane is going to be hauling people for 5+ hours, it tends to be a larger plane capable of reclining seats. If the plane is simply taxiing people from Charlotte to DC, they need to remove the recline feature.

All of this is just symptomatic of the larger issue, which is that flying has become worse than taking a greyhound bus. It is disgusting, dirty, smelly and degrading. Add some dignity to flying and you won't have people in their PJs breaking into fights.

No one cares what you paid for with the ticket. Reclining your seat is pretty-much viewed as a dickhead move, so the airlines should cut it out.

I can't remember a time someone taller than me was in front of me and reclined (I'm about 6'1"). It's always someone 5'9" or shorter that seems to feel the need to recline into my knees. Usually shorter men, or teenagers.

True, but I also have the right to open my tray table and drum to the beat on my headset. Or let my restless leg syndrome get the best of me, right into the back of the seat in front of me. A little common courtesy goes a long way. Having a right to do something, and doing the right thing are completely different.

Straight outta LA wrote:

If I purchase a seat that reclines, I have the right to recline it. So does the person in front of me. If anyone shoves back I'm calling the attendant to straighten them out. Reclining my seat is not "perpetuating the problem." There is no problem. I have a reclining seat and I chose to recline it.

I often recline my seat a little bit. But the fights are ridiculous. If people are upset, they should upset at the airlines for using seats which recline instead of at the person who reclined his or her seat.

Various wrote:

I can't remember a time someone taller than me was in front of me and reclined (I'm about 6'1"). It's always someone 5'9" or shorter that seems to feel the need to recline into my knees. Usually shorter men, or teenagers.

I'm 5'9" and will sometimes recline my seat just a bit. Never all the way. I don't do it for legroom I do it so I can lean back for a nap and hopefully my head will stay on the headrest. They could make non reclining seats with adjustable headrests to accommodate this though.

Other than that I really don't see a need to recline.

Not a Coach wrote:

IF someone is that bothered, why not pay the extra $50 to get a seat with more legroom?

My work won't pay for it. They do not allow upgrades of any kind for anything related to travel. If I'm on personal travel then I pay for it.

Guppy wrote:

I think it's common courtesy to not recline the seats more than halfway unless there's no one sitting behind you.

If reclining a seat pushes into someone else's space, then the airlines shouldn't put a button there to allow reclining. If the button is there, i'm going to use it.