Recline or Decline?

The incident about the confrontation regarding reclining between two passengers on American Airlines, has been all over the news. Celebrities and others have been taking sides on whether the man or woman was in the right. So recline or decline? Here is our take.

What Happened?

From what has been reported, an altercation took place between two passengers on an American Airline flight. It is worth noting that this was a less than 2 hour flight. The man was in the back row of the plane in a seat that did not recline. The woman was in the row in front of him. She started to recline and he asked her to wait until he had eaten lunch. She agreed and then fully reclined after lunch was complete without looking back or checking with the man behind her. The man began repeatedly banging/punching the seat. The woman reported the situation to the flight attendant who reportedly took the man’s side that the seating was tight and gave him a free drink.

Why He Was In the Wrong

No matter what happens on a plane, unless it is necessary and in self defense, no passenger has the right to physically attack another.  There were other ways he could have tried to resolve the matter. Here, it appears that though he had no reluctance to ask the woman to wait to recline until after lunch (to which she agreed), he did not tell her that her reclining was making him uncomfortable and seek to negotiate with her further. He could have for example, asked her if she would be willing to recline half way and alerted her to how cramped he was when the seat was reclined. It was unreasonable for him to assume that someone in front of him would not recline, let alone punch someone for doing so.

Why She Was in the Wrong

While the woman had the right to recline, she should have thought better about doing so. The man behind her had already alerted her to a cramped space issue. Yet, she fully reclined on a less than two hour flight without checking to see if she could do so without making the other person uncomfortable. She too could have said something when he started punching her to try to resolve the conflict.

In our view, both passengers lacked the level of class we would hope for from other travelers

The Third Wrong Party

An analysis of recline or decline should not just be between the two passengers. Without getting into how the airline handled the conflict once they learned about it, the fact is that American Airlines and other airlines should take steps to eliminate the recline mechanism if/when the space does not comfortably allow it.

What Can/Should You Do About It?

Come In With Reasonable Expectations

It is important to realize that for better or worse, most airlines have added seating and decreased the amount of passenger space in economy. This is not all bad since the increased seating capacity is partly the cause for airline fares having gone down somewhat overall in the past ten years.

Communicate

You cannot guarantee that you will not encounter rude travelers no matter what you say or do. However, you increase your chances of resolving conflict by communicating effectively.

Explore and Compare Options

If you are a tall person or otherwise having ample seating space on a plane is important to you, take the time to explore or compare options.

This are some differences in the seat pitch and other seat dimensions of the various airlines. You might want to compare them before buying your ticket. One source for seat pitch in the various classes is found HERE

Additionally, airlines now offer various options between standard economy and business class depending on the route. Some airlines offer a Premium Economy section which depending on the flight/route may be closer to economy pricing than business. Also various airlines have an Economy Plus/Comfort/More Room section of their economy section with larger seats. Paying a small premium may well be worth it particularly on longer flights.

So recline or decline? We say, consider other people, communicate and pick your airline and seat wisely.