Steve Robinson

Reclining Plane Seats a Touchy Subject

While almost everyone is on the lookout for either cheap airplane tickets or cheap vacation packages, views differ widely when it comes to whether passengers should recline their airplane seats.

In February of 2010 a passenger responded to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s request to raise his seatback prior to takeoff by taking a swing at him.  This past spring a seatback argument on a plane headed to Ghana from Washington, D.C. resulted in the pilot returning to Dulles airport, escorted by F-16 fighters.

A recent survey of over 6,500 passengers, conducted on the behalf of USA TODAY and TripAdvisor found that travelers were conflicted when it comes to reclining seats on planes:

·      27 percent claimed to have the right to recline.

·      27 percent said all seat should be non-reclining.

·      17 percent viewed reclining as rude.

·      15 percent said that they only recline when sleeping.

·      13 percent said that they recline based on who is seated behind them.

Some airlines have responded to complaints about passengers reclining their chairs by installing slimmer coach seats with rigid, shell-like backs and cushions that slide forward a few inches, reducing legroom for taller passengers but preserving passengers’ personal space.

Delta, JetBlue and United offer “premium economy” seats that come with an extra 2 to 5 inches of legroom.  Going the opposite direction, low cost carriers including Allegiant, Ryanair and Spirit have installed non-reclining seats.

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