Posted on 09/04/2014 6:56:11 AM PDT by C19fan
Its a sign of our air-rage times: three separate planes forced to divert in the space of two weeks when cramped passengers went ballistic over someone reclining their seat. In one episode, two undercover air marshals subdued and handcuffed the irate traveler in question. In another, a woman swore at the reclining passenger in front of her and screamed for the pilot to put this plane down.
The dust-ups dont shock Robert Mann, a former airline executive who now runs an airline-industry analysis company. August is the highest load-factor month of the year for a North American carrier, and its not surprising to me that the highest frequency of incidents between passengers occur in that month, he says. Its like rats in a maze. At a certain point they start eating each other.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedailybeast.com ...
I think they should make the seats so that when they recline they also slide forward. That way the recliners can crush their own knees.
Mathematics strikes again.
Airlines don't shrink space between seats because they want to make their customers uncomfortable. They do it because an extra row of seats increases their revenue for a full flight by 3% or so.
AFAIK, the only American airline that has been consistently profitable is Southwest, so it's not like the airlines are just greedy. In fact, the airline industry as q whole has never made money over its entire history. They do in some years, but that's based almost entirely on fuel price and traffic volatility. When traffic is up and fuel is down, they make money. But pretty much only then.
This would all work itself out in the marketplace if people were logical. Some airlines would have more space between seats and charge a little extra. The lower price airlines would be less comfortable.
The weird way tickets are sold prevents this. People go online and always buy the cheapest ticket they find. So there is, by definition, a race to the bottom in nonessentials like comfort and service.
The reason is that most flights aren't very long, so people aren't willing to pay extra for minor comfort improvements. They are, however, most willing to complain about them.
For the price of the ticket, the p-ger should get what they pay for; full recline, and full tray table access. Unfortunately, it’s either, not both. My knees are in pressured contact with the front seat for every dam flight, unless I get the upgrade. But still the full recliner then causes problems with my table tray access for a computer. To solve the problem—eliminate the recline entirely. Not the best solution, but better. Then use a collar pillow.
A nice fart app, volume subdued... couple of hits and shazam the recliner goes up.
You must have had a sheltered life.
Pumping nitrous oxide into the economy class cabin would solve everything, even hijackings. Lets call it nitrous class flying. I’m in, I hate flying and drink myself silly whenever I do. Nitrous is a better solution.
I don’t believe that result. Every single time I go through LA my flights are ALWAYS delayed significantly.
Yep, we don't have fuel contracts like they do. I don't fly nearly as often these days, I have to have a really good reason to go. 100LL prices are insane.
My opinion is that anyone who rams their seat back into the recline position without checking with the person behind them is a jerk. I once had a laptop rammed in so tight that I thought it was going to break and it took a call to the flight attendant to get this individual to move their seat forward to untrap it
tell me, who would have paid me for a damaged computer and all the time lost if it had of been smashed?
I think you meant consolation prize, though consolidation may be what’s happening. ;)
I hate flying. I really do.
Wonder how many people who are flying really need to fly?
Short people got no reason to live except when flying.
The biggest problem is that they jam way too many seats in a plane in the first place. For the last decade they have added more seats and rows to planes in order to maximize profit. They have also greatly reduced flights to limit the potential seats and increase prices.
I am always shocked that Midwest Express was discontinued. Until 9/11 they where the best in the industry and every seat was first class. They started tinkering wit the seats and lowering the quality after they had money problems due to 9/11. It is a shame no other carrier has figured out how to copy their original model.
I honestly believe that a company could decide to offer a specific high quality of service with fewer seats and an understanding that the service would be at a price within $20 of the same destination as a competitor.
I understand that pricing in the industry is all very logistical, but sometimes simple is better and I believe that most, particularly business, travelers would reward a company for better seats and more transparent pricing.
I used to fly 2 to four flights a week for business in the late nineties and early 00’s. Thank God I don’t have to fly now.
The guy flying beat the driving team by 7 minutes.
Before my TBA one concern in flying vs. driving was if I was going to want to take any firearms to my destination. Even though it is possible to declare them and take them on aircraft, I’ve never trusted the TSA screeners not to steal them, so taking guns always meant I’d drive.
I see it as capitalism at its best. An entrepreneur identified a common public need. They invented a product to fulfill that need. They made it small and affordable to fit into a carry-on bag.
Personally, if I'm buying an airplane seat, I am buying for the privilege of a comfortable flight. I'm not paying to stare at someone else's head for three hours.
The selfish person who reclines all the way back practically forces me to do the same to the person behind me. It would be better if the reclining was minimal so I could function with my electronic device or magazine and a small beverage which I can do with someone else's head there instead.
One of the best names for a Greyhound Bus is, “anti-personnel carrier.”
Would you feel that way if your knees were right up against the seat in front of you and it was painful when the seat reclined?
And don't say to buy a first class ticket. The seats are wider there but they are still close together front to back.
A fly a lot. The only people who recline are those on vacation, not the business travelers. Those heading to Las Vegas and Florida are the worst.
Flying just sucks!
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