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The ethics of reclining airplane seats

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Re: The ethics of reclining airplane seats

#41

Post by delecti »

shp0ngle wrote: post #33
bell-cot wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yet people continue to vote their purchasing dollars for too-tight seat spacing - because the cost of roomier seats is for-sure and up-front. Vs. hope springs eternal on the reality that you'll get.

The options are usually either “dirt cheap economy” or “crazy expensive business”. For some reason business class is often like 5x 6x the economy! Why is there no middle class?

There is: premium economy.

Also, business/first class is often much less than 5-6x the economy price. In fact I'm not sure I've ever seen it that much higher.

Re: The ethics of reclining airplane seats

#42

Post by legitster »

Was this a problem the internet invented? It used to be that no one seemingly cared and everyone reclined their seat as soon as takeoff was over. I guess the modern era is creating new unwritten social contracts.

For what it's worth - I never mind. I get to partake in the miracle of flight. And they only give you, like, 3 inches of recline anyway. Just take it.

Re: The ethics of reclining airplane seats

#43

Post by bombcar »

albert_e wrote: post #19
pcl wrote: post #4

I’ve been on a few flights in which the seat reclined by swinging forward, rather than pivoting backward. So, the impact of the recline was fully experienced by the recliner, and not at all by the person in the seat behind.

that's a great idea -- though i have not experienced this myself (except in some movie theaters) I presume such chairs are costlier to manufature and maintain -- so most cheap airlines do not opt for them

More likely they're a newer design, and won't appear in the cheaper airlines until those planes trickle down.

They're singled in the middle so the bottom slides forward, the top slides back.

Re: The ethics of reclining airplane seats

#44

Post by MisterAndersen »

shkkmo wrote: post #32
SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm hearing that because I'm 6'6" I should either be able to pay for premium or just never fly. That's a good excuse to get out an in-laws wedding next summer - I'll run it by my wife.

So many things are biased in favor of tall people, I have no problem with them having to pay more for a larger seat rather than externalizing those costs onto everyone else.

Do you have any examples of things biased in favor of tall people?

Re: The ethics of reclining airplane seats

#46

Post by heavytea21475 »

"The ability to recline an airplane seat implies a right to recline an airplane seat" is a very unconvincing argument. If everything unethical must be physically prevented, then what even is ethics? "If I can do it, I may do it" is a rejection of ethics.

Objectively, reclining your seat reduces the available space for the person behind you, who is already cramped for space. Even if everyone could recline (which they can't because of exit rows and back rows), the person behind you would have more space if you didn't.

So you can basically take this two ways. You can be utilitarian and try to minimize total pain ("Airplane etiquette is you only recline when necessary, and if you must recline, just put the seat back a little bit to get the comfort you need without encroaching too much on the person behind you."), or you can be Hippocratic and commit to doing no harm ("If someone is sitting behind you then don't recline your seat").

Either position is defensible, but I can't see any defense of the position that you naturally have a right to reduce your suffering at the expense of increasing someone else's.

Re: The ethics of reclining airplane seats

#47

Post by falkenb0t »

sebzim4500 wrote: post #25

Is this an American thing? Whenever I've flown in Europe or trans-Atlantic either the seats do not recline at all or almost everyone reclines their seat for the entire flight (and no one throws a tantrum about it).

I've personally flown a ton of American domestic flights and have never encountered someone who threw a tantrum over reclining seats. In fact, prior to this post, I didn't even realize it was something some people frowned at.

Anecdotal, of course, but then this entire thread is fairly anecdotal.

Re: The ethics of reclining airplane seats

#49

Post by bombcar »

llimos wrote: post #26

On EasyJet, seats do not recline. I remember the first time I discovered this, thinking what a brilliant idea and why doesn't everyone do this? Of course, it helps that their flights are mostly short-haul (mentioned in the article).

Short-haul (transit) bus seats don't recline either, but long-haul ones usually do.

I feel that for much of airline travel these days we should just give up the charade that it's anything more than a flying bus (one of the companies is even named AIRBUS), install plastic hose-down seats, and be done with it.

Re: The ethics of reclining airplane seats

#50

Post by waqf »

legitster wrote: post #42

Was this a problem the internet invented? It used to be that no one seemingly cared and everyone reclined their seat as soon as takeoff was over. I guess the modern era is creating new unwritten social contracts. For what it's worth - I never mind. I get to partake in the miracle of flight. And they only give you, like, 3 inches of recline anyway. Just take it.

Seat pitch has decreased significantly since the internet was invented. It's hard to take seriously any discussion that doesn't take that into account.

(Also, a lot more people have laptops than in the '90s. IME it's not possible to use laptops in coach if the seat in front is at all reclined, though I seldom see this mentioned.)

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