A woman has sparked a debate after sharing how she kept her plane seat reclined despite knowing it was making another passenger uncomfortable
A woman has sparked a debate about plane etiquette after reclining her seat despite knowing it was causing discomfort to the passenger behind her.
During a nine-hour journey from Dallas to Paris with her mum, she planned to get some much-needed sleep during the overnight flight.
To help with this, she reclined her seat, popped in her headphones, and closed her eyes. However, her attempt at rest was quickly interrupted by the woman seated behind her, who requested she return her seat to its upright position.
Taking to Reddit to share her story, she explained: “After take off, I lean back my seat to begin snoozing. Almost immediately, the girl behind me taps on my shoulder and asks me to pull up my seat, which I do, but then asked why.”
The reason given by the fellow passenger was that there was a baby in a car seat directly behind her, preventing her from reclining her own seat. This meant that if the original poster reclined hers, it would obstruct the view of the in-flight entertainment screen on the back of her seat.
Unsatisfied with the situation, she later thought, “I was like, OK, but a few minutes in I realised I really needed to lean my seat back if I was gonna sleep (it just made a huge difference for me).” After spotting an unoccupied seat nearby, she proposed that the other woman move there, which would allow both of them to enjoy their flight – the concerned passenger could watch her movie and she could recline in comfort.
Despite the suggestion, the woman resisted change, prompting the original poster to add: “I figured, since there was an empty seat in the middle section just a few rows back, if it really bothered her, she could move there. I had even told her as much. “So, after a few minutes, I leaned back my seat again and close my eyes. She then gets the attention of a flight attendant to tell me to pull up my seat. I put in my headphones.”
In response, the irritated woman eagerly flagged down a flight attendant to address the issue, only to be met with the frustrating reality that they couldn’t intervene. “The girl then got the attention of two more flight attendants, who all said the same thing, and offered the same seat I told her about. Thing is, we were in the window seat, and the girl complained that she picked that seat because it’s the window seat so she refused to move. Meanwhile, I pretended to sleep the whole time.”
Torn between guilt and indifference, the reclining passenger confessed: “I felt really bad for her. If it was me, I’d be complaining too. But I also didn’t really care about the window and wouldn’t have been bothered at all about moving, so in my mind when I leaned back, I figured she could move if it really bothered her. I bet she really thought I was the a***hole though. It was just a sucky situation.”
Looking for validation or possibly vindication online, she sought out the opinions of strangers to determine whether her refusal to readjust her chair was justified. Responding to her post, one commenter proposed an alternative design for airline seats, suggesting, “I’d love for airline seats to slide forward to recline. Want to recline? Lose a couple inches of legroom but not inconvenience the person behind you.”
Another user chimed in, critiquing the fundamental design of airline seats, stating, “airline passenger seats have been designed without thinking through all the permutation on how people actually use them when flying.”
Offering a practical solution, a third commenter pointed out a regulatory requirement, “Car seats are required to be in the window seat so as to not block other passengers if there is an emergency. So the only real solution was for the girl to move.”
