
Who owns the space between reclining airline seats? - sethbannon
https://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2017/05/recline-and-fall?fsrc=scn/tw/te/bl/ed/whoownsthespacebetweenrecliningairlineseatsreclineandfall
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totalZero
I firmly believe that if your seat reclines, you are totally entitled to use
the full extent of that recline.

The only issue I've ever had with this was when a Lufthansa flight attendant
barked at me to set my seat upright as I was napping while the person behind
me was eating. It was a transatlantic flight.

Never flew Lufthansa again.

~~~
nemo44x
I think you're right to a point but there is a thing called etiquette. And we
should respect that and not infringe on another person's enjoyment when
inappropriate to do so.

In terms of longer flights I find it ridiculous when people fully recline the
second they are allowed to after takeoff. A small recline (20% for instance)
is fine as it doesn't infringe on the person behind them and adds a sometimes
necessary level of comfort that a fully upright seat does not. Fully reclining
right after takeoff is rude and a breach of etiquette I believe.

The main reason why, on a longer flight that is, is because drinks and food
are served pretty quickly after the aircraft is stable. This means the person
behind you requires a tray for a time to consume their beverage and meal.
Etiquette says you should allow the person behind you to take advantage of
this space during this time. Even if you choose not to partake in this event,
you should respect the person's behind you who may in fact need this space to
enjoy (as much as they can!) their meal with ample space.

After the meal's waste have been collected is when I find it acceptable to go
back all the way. This is often the time people begin to nap or sleep and the
space is better used for this purpose.

Some common courtesy, compassion and politeness goes a long way in making a
better, more enjoyable place for everyone.

~~~
mylons
you having to work on an airplane is your problem. if you HAVE to work on an
airplane, ensure you can do so by getting a business class seat or better. by
failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

~~~
always_good
There's such little etiquette in airports and airplanes that it's a good
opportunity to vent a little rage at everyone else. I think it's healthy. Like
Purge Day in that movie "The Purge".

For example, how everyone stands up immediately as soon as the plane lands.
Someone 5 rows back managing to depart before you because you remained seated
until it's your row's turn, but they have one of those oversized carry-ons and
can't even get it down. So they essentially cut in front of you just to make
you wait on them.

Don't want anyone to be any less miserable than I am while traveling. It would
unfairly deprive them of a great character-building experience.

~~~
palimpsests
Alternatively, the amount of stress and tension amongst the collective in
airports and airplanes is such that I think it's a great opportunity to
practice being more compassionate and human with each other, versus "venting
rage at everyone else" \- to let someone else go first in line, to clean up
after yourself and maybe the past couple of other people who used the airplane
lavatory before you, to take a couple of breaths and slow down before ripping
into the airline counter agent for some real major or minor inconvenience.

I completely agree that learning how to healthily express anger is extremely
important, but I don't think we need to seed more misery amongst each other
than what is happening by default already.

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phil248
I've stuck to a policy of never reclining my seat on domestic and daytime
flights. Unless of course the person in front of me starts a chain reaction.

I believe it is a reasonable policy, but no one else seems to follow it.

~~~
grepthisab
I do this too. I have long legs so if the person in front of me reclines, I
have to as well. But otherwise I don’t recline and am very cognizant of the
people behind me. One time the people in front of me reclined, so I reclined,
and the people behind me asked me to unrecline. I told them the situation, and
they asked the people in front of me to unrecline, they did, and I did.

~~~
phil248
A rare happy ending!

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_ph_
One big question not asked is: why is it accepted that airlines install
seating and set row distances such that when fully reclining you severely
impact the person sitting behind you?

~~~
chx
Because the flying public again and again votes with their dollars for the
cheapest ticket everything else be damned.

~~~
nightski
You are acting like there is a choice. Every large airline that can move me
around the country has the exact same experience. The only "choice" is first
class. However that is not a choice. It's not 10% or even 20% more. It's like
200-300% the cost of a normal ticket.

~~~
totalZero
Most airlines in my country offer an upgrade to premium economy for something
like 40 to 80 USD.

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joncp
This has already been fixed. With newer planes, the seat's pivot point is
above the knees of the person behind.

~~~
stefantheard
Also how can this possibly be true for every human being? I'm only 6'5'' and
for any plane I've been on this has not been true. Including "newer" planes
eg. the 787 Dreamliner.

~~~
tomjakubowski
6’5” is something like 4 SDs above the mean for adults (male & female), FWIW.

~~~
sjmulder
So what is it worth? What help is this to someone 6'5"? He can hardly change
his height to be more in line with the average person.

~~~
tomjakubowski
It might help them to better understand the tradeoffs airlines make when
designing their cabins. There are always exit row seats, which not only have
longer seat pitch but also have rows ahead which cannot recline. Maybe
airlines could waive the modest upgrade fee for passengers of extreme height.

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tedunangst
So the front row has nobody reclining into it. And the back row doesn't
recline. So even if everybody reclines, that's not equal.

~~~
francisofascii
For some airlines, the price of the front seat is more than the back seat. So
the inequity is factored in.

~~~
misja111
But not for the seat in the back.

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eximius
I wish there was an airline that offered 'All Business Class' flights. It'd
really just be a marketing trick to try to escape the High Volume/Low Price
vs. Low Volume/High Price dilemma. I don't know if it'd work, but I would like
to see someone try.

(Arguments saying it can't work because thats how flights used to be and ended
up where we are ignore that those changes were gradual with all airlines
competing together to erode their quality. A new market entry of what I
describe would be sufficiently different to have marketing reasons to not
compete on price, etc)

EDIT: Welp, apparently its been done and doesn't work or is simply less
profitable. Still makes me sad there isn't a middle ground between sardines
and sheiks.

~~~
Jhsto
Last time I checked flights between SF and LA I saw this company:
[https://www.flyvictor.com](https://www.flyvictor.com)

Very expensive, but at least everything is business class.

~~~
dingaling
Fly Victor are a front-end agency for many small charter operators, they don't
have their own fleet.

~~~
Jhsto
Ah, interesting, the website did not convey that on a fast look. Thank you.

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solotronics
why dont they angle the seats towards the aisle a bit? this helps with parked
cars I would think it would be the same in this case.

~~~
dingaling
Thomson Aero Seating in the UK proposed an angled seating arrangement for
economy / coach back in the early 2000s; no airline adopted it but they went
crazy for the business-class version. Jet Blue have a special variation for
their narrowbody airliners.

One of the problems of angled seating is that it introduces additional lateral
stresses on the body which have to be demonstrated during certification.

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scarface74
I can't read the linked article because it's behind a paywall and the private
browsing trick isn't working.

The article seems to be based on the study discussed here.

[https://twocents.lifehacker.com/your-reclining-airplane-
seat...](https://twocents.lifehacker.com/your-reclining-airplane-seat-vs-the-
lap-behind-you-wh-1795298389)

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chx
I find a reclined seat uncomfortable. Must be me.

