American Airlines Passenger Threatens To Make Life Miserable For Anyone Who Reclines Their Seat

by Gary Leff on August 30, 2023

An aggressive passenger in the American Airlines forum on Reddit declares that (1) passengers should not recline their seats, and (2) seats should not recline.

If you recline your seat you are diminishing the space that the passenger behind you has. I don’t know why planes even have the option.

…Don’t recline. Don’t. Just don’t. ..When you recline your seat, what..do you think happens to the person behind you??

Calling seat recliners “entitled,” the passenger says that if a passenger in front of them reclines they’ll “tug on” their seat and “do whatever I can to make yo[ur] trip miserable.”

And since this is a commonly-held view, it seems to be one worth correcting.

That said, there is an etiquette to exercising your right to recline. Don’t recline during mealtime. Try not to recline unless it serves a real purpose (if it doesn’t actually benefit your comfort, don’t recline). And recline slowly, don’t slam your seat into the person’s laptop behind you.

If you don’t want the passenger in front of you to recline, politely ask them not to. And if they want to recline and you don’t want them to, consider whether it’s worth your while to make not reclining worth their while.

Usually I want to work. I can sometimes do that with Southwest Airlines’ seat pitch, they give 1-2 more inches of legroom than most airlines do in their regular coach seats. And I can generally work in extra legroom coach. But I’m going to have a hard time using my laptop in coach with 30 inches between seats. If the passenger in front of you reclines, all bets are off. Politely ask them if you might work for a bit before they recline, offer to buy them a cocktail, or even to switch seats with them. Or if it’s valuable to you, then offer a small amount of cash.

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