Ask Randy: Should you recline your airplane seat?
— -- These are tumultuous times for frequent fliers, as struggling airlines continue to add new fees and restrictions to their loyalty programs. So we've invited frequent-flier expert Randy Petersen to take your queries and offer advice on how to make the most of your miles. Here are some recent queries; join him in his ongoing forum to post one of your own or help answer a question from a fellow reader.
Reader JOHN MAY:A few months ago there was a situation on my flight where one woman slapped another because she put her seat back heavily without thought of the person behind.
While individuals have the right to incline their seats, other passengers have the right not to be squashed or to be hit by this action.
While there is no excuse for thoughtlessness, much of this could be resolved if airlines offered the choice of sitting in areas where you inclined your seat or did not. In the past airlines did this for smokers and non smokers.
Any thoughts on this?
Randy Petersen:I actually do have a thought on this and thanks for asking. Unfortunately I have witnessed similar situations as you just described and can't say that I'm happy about them — they remind me all too often that travel is a mode of transportation for a growing part of our world population and while I was lucky enough to have been mentored about the manners of travel by some of the finest travelers around, it is clear that some people just never got that e-mail. While I don't have the long legs of the supermodels, mine are long enough that there's not a seat back that I haven't been "knee-capped" with from time to time. But the point is not about the space, it's about remembering that the seat space is shared. For myself, I more often than not will not recline the seat to get more comfortable because I've been behind those same seats all too often (that or I need to exercise my right to grovel for an upgrade more often!). And if I do, I'll turn around and politely advise the person behind that their "air space" is about to get a little smaller, and then only very easily moving that seat back. It's usually less of a problem for me as I tend to seek out exit row seats and typically they do not recline.
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