At what point in flight is it acceptable for the person in front of you to recline his/her seat??

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Pompal '09.

A man after my own heart! I have often thought that on short haul flights, the seats should be such that they cannot be reclined. When you are 6'+ tall, sitting on a plane with a seat pitch of between 28"-30", it's no fun. And, if you try lowering your tray when the seat in front is reclined, it becomes extremely uncomfortable as the tray attempts to penetrate your stomach.
I admit to pushing the seat back up on a number of occasions, either with my hands or by pressing my knees forcefully into the back of the seat. I've had one or two stares from the occupants, but the message has generally got through.
It would certainly help and save possible confrontation if the airlines got the message and made it impossible to recline seats. It would then be the same for everyone and, after all, they know which aircraft they are intending to use for short haul flights.
Good question.

Lab_Lover

In an ideal world people would ask the person behind them if it's okay to recline the seat...or at least inform them of their intention to do so politely.

mardaw

I do not recline my seat ever...yes I too think it is thoughtless. I have very long legs & do not like to have my legs squished up so why would I do it to someone else.

Scouse

I have this problem and I understand the difficulty of those behind so I never ever recline mine fully.
On a flight from Australia Ihad a faulty seat which reclined fully as soon as I sat in it. it was supposed to be fixed in Singapore but when we took off guess what happened. I felt so sorry for the lady behind on what was a full flight

ukok

In most planes i think its just not acceptable. There is no space to begin with, so to take more space from someone is ultimately selfish. Lets face it they hardly recline much, the benefits for the recliner do not make up for the suffering of the person behind

Mike

When the pilots turn off the seatbelt rule, you may make your seat into a recliner

Happy Lady

No matter when it is allowed, it is never a good situation. Recently on a 6-hour flight, the guy in front of me reclined his seat. At the time, I was trying to read. When he reclined, I had to put the book in my lap which made it impossible to see since it was dark in the shadow of the seat. So, I put my hands on the back of his seat and held the book where I could read it. He looked around and saw the book and my hands. Problem solved! He put his seat back up. I didn't do this intentionally, but it solved my problem.

rachel

i know what you mean i always get the very large person who reclines their seatstraight away or the screaming kids who stand up and pull my hair

embarrassed

The technical answer to this question is that seats may be reclined at the first cycling of the no smoking sign. Since smoking is no longer permitted on any (US based) commercial airline this is usually identified by a single audible chime that occurs shortly after the wheels of the aircraft leave the ground. Seats must be returned to the fully upright and locked position during turbulence, before landing and at any time you are instructed to do so by a flight attendant. The actual problem here isn't the person in front of you reclining their seat but the fact that airlines have reduced seat pitch to the point that a 2"-4" recline would actually affect the person sitting behind them. Since this is unlikely to change anytime soon the best way to eliminate the problem is to request seating at a bulkhead. Of course, these seats normally don't have under-seat storage available so you're actually trading off one problem for another. FYI, the window seat in front of an exit row will never recline as it might impede egress in the event of an emergency.

gromit801

Because I'm 6'7", the seat in front usually CAN'T recline. My knees are right up against the back of the seat. I had one jackass keep trying to push their seat back, smashing into my knees. I told them because of my knees, they'd be unable to put their seat back. They kept it up. I called the flight attendant and informed her (loud enough for the person in front of me to hear) that I wanted the police at the gate so I could file an assault charge.

That got the attention of all concerned. After all stories were made known to the F/A (the person in front tried to deny that I told them about my knees, until another passenger vouched for my story), told the knee basher that she would make sure the cops were at the gate if they didn't stop with the seat. She told them sometimes you just don't get to put the seat back.

Try these!
http://www.kneedefender.com/html2/buy.htm

Trevor F

when you've reached your maximum altitude and the captain announces it or whatever

jed slade

ON SHORT 3 TO 4 HOUR FLIGHTS THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR TILTING YOUR SEAT BACK.ON THE CHEAP FLIGHTS IN THE SARDINE CANS THERE IS NO SPARE ROOM ,EVERY INCH IS ACCOUNTED FOR.IF YOU WANT TO RISK TILTING YOUR SEAT BACK,THEN EXPECT RETRIBUTION.NORMALLY YOU WILL BE REQUESTED TO TILT IT UP AGAIN,SHOULD YOU REFUSE ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN.I have seen drinks poured over peoples heads,hair being spat in and many other offensive acts of revenge.All i can say is,the human species runs true to form.I have never done this myself and would expect the same consideration from others on short flights OR on cramped cheap long haul flights,these are uncomfortable enough without some ignorant prat making it worse.

I still love Jose UC bluea

sorry but the seats are for reclining
the point to ask it to be put up is if you are eating.
otherwise why would they have recliners?

CaraMia2

Once you reach your altitude and it's ok to get up, turn on electronic devices, etc etc... Flight attendants are usually pretty clear about that... But then you always get that one bonehead that thinks he's the exception to the rules.

focus

During take off and landing.

shadowsthathunt

As soon as the seatbelt light goes off it is ok to recline the seat. Before that the flight attendants should not alow people to recline their seats. This is a safety measure and should be followed.

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