Posted on 08/26/2014 2:01:47 PM PDT by ConservingFreedom
NEW YORK — Airline passengers have come to expect a tiny escape from the confined space of today's packed planes: the ability to recline their seat a few inches. When one passenger was denied that bit of personal space Sunday, it led to a heated argument and the unscheduled landing of their plane, just halfway to its destination.
The fight started on a United Airlines flight because one passenger was using the Knee Defender, a $21.95 gadget that attaches to a passenger's tray table and prevents the person in front of them from reclining. [...]
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
The jerk with the device should have been arrested at destination for tampering with an airplane. End of problem.
About fifteen years ago, I was flying out of San Juan Puerto Rico when a man I estimated to weigh in excess of 600 pounds boarded the plane. He was so wide he could barely move down the aisle, and when the flight attendant seated him, the only area deep enough to fit him into was the three seats in the emergency exit. This man was so large he not only would never have been able to fit through the emergency exit if it had been needed, but he would have also prevented anyone else from exiting.
I think regulations now state that people like this are too fat to fly and can be refused service, but those regulations didn’t exist at that time.
This sort of thing is why I fly First Class or United’s Business/First.
I resolved never to fly Economy again if the flight is more than 1.5 hours. I simply refuse.
I almost scratched United Airlines off my list of even flying with them again about five years ago, but they’ve made serious effort and headway into improving their airline since about 2011.
I’ve endured some flights, thankfully short (less than two hours) where the larger gentleman’s elbows were resting against the middle of my chest. Just a big guy in a small seat. Bareable for short periods, but absolutely unsatisfactory on my 13-hour China flights.
Yeah, well, I'm 6'2" and have a 34" inseam. They get to recline until they hit my knees and no more. They have no more right to their recliner (which is an optional, not required, function of that seat), than I do my kneecaps (which are a required, not optional, part of a properly-functioning anatomy).
Sounds to me like a personal problem. Don’t buy the product and then complain that it doesn’t suit you.
I agree about the physical limitations of the person occupying the seat in back. That is just an admission of the physical realitiesof both aircraft and passengers.
A few years ago I think southwest started charging for a second ticket for such folks.
That's a non-sequiter. I'm paying for my seat and space, which includes the use of the tray table in front of me.
I blame the airline for allowing the seats to recline as far as they do and squeezing the seats closer together front-to-back versus what they were 20 years ago.
Again, the reclining seat is an option. Removing my kneecaps is not.
A passive-aggressive solution is to direct your air vent airstream onto the person whose head is in your lap. They might reconsider their position after this maneuver.
“Try sitting in front of a 4 year old who kicks the seat from Atlanta to Paris for 8 hours......................”
How about from Portland to Bangkok?
I blame the airlines too. But the person sitting in front of you pai for a seat that reclines. You are expecting as a right that person to surrender what he paid for, so that you can receive more than you paid for? Pretty nervy. But this seat jamming device should be right up your alley.
What’s passive aggressive is clamping a “Knee Defender” on the seat in front of you, to grab someone else’s space for yourself. Suck it up, or else don’t fly coach. Don’t expect your neighbors to make your experience better at their expense.
I guess its a dog-eat-dog world.
Try sitting in front of a passenger that thinks the tv touch screens requires incessant poking. Drives me nuts.
I admit. I just do NOT get it. Some on these threads (there are several) insist they get what they paid for, but refuse to allow that others paid for their seat area too. So I’m supposed to be in pain so that someone else can be comfy reclining????
Don’t expect your neighbors to make your experience better at their expense.
YES! You said it, that’s it exactly.
And I paid for a seat and a tray table for my use. The guy in front can take away what I paid for, but I have no say when he takes away what I paid for? As for using the knee protector, no, I'm not that petty, but some around here seem to be.
If i saw some clown with a device on my seat keeping me from reclining then having a problem with me having a problem i would have gone APESHIT.
If i was calm enough i’d wait till we landed before knocking the crap out of the guy.
What frigging NERVE.
unbelievable....
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