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Plane diverted as passengers fight over seat reclining

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C

caramac

Member
http://www.theguardian.com/business...erted-as-passengers-fight-over-seat-reclining

A plane in the US had to be diverted and two passengers removed after one of them started a fight by using a banned device to stop the seat in front reclining.

The spat began on United Airlines flight 1462 because one passenger was using the Knee Defender, a $21.95 lock that attaches to a tray table and jams the reclining mechanism of the seat in front.

The male passenger, seated in a middle seat of row 12, used the device to stop the woman in front of him reclining while he was on his laptop, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

A flight attendant asked him to remove the device and he refused. The woman then stood up, turned around and threw a cup of water at him, the official said.

The dispute on the service from Newark to Denver escalated to the point that the airline decided to divert to Chicago’s O’Hare international airport, according to Transportation Security Administration spokesman Ross Feinstein.

Chicago police and TSA officers met the flight, spoke to the passengers — a man and a woman, both 48 — and “deemed it a customer service issue”, Feinstein said. The TSA would not name the passengers.

The plane then continued to Denver without them, arriving an hour and 38 minutes late, according to the airline’s website.

Both passengers had been sitting in United’s “economy plus” section, which advertises four more inches of legroom.

The Federal Aviation Administration leaves it up to individual airlines to set rules about the device. United Airlines says it prohibits its use, like all major US airlines. Spirit Airlines and Allegiant Air take the reclining mechanisms out of their seats, leaving them permanently upright.

The FAA can impose a civil fine of up to $25,000 for passengers who are unruly. In this case no arrest was made, according to airport spokesman Gregg Cunningham.
Click to expand...

http://www.kneedefender.com/

I never knew this device existed :D
 
S

SolidChamp

Banned
akira28 said:
hilarious.
Click to expand...

Indeed. I'm 6'2" tall and I'm a frequent economy passenger, especially on 12-13 hour long international flights. I reserve the right to ask someone politely to not crush my kneecaps with their reclining seat, but I fully expect them to exercise their right to recline as much as they want.

They paid for that fucking seat just as much as I paid for mine.
 
S

slit

Member
All of the airlines should just take the reclining feature out of seats. They want to squeeze as many people as they can into a flight and then let them recline. Of course that's asking for trouble.
 
S

soepje

Member
slit said:
All of the airlines should just take the reclining feature out of seats. They want to squeeze as many people as they can into a flight and then let them recline. Of course that's asking for trouble.
Click to expand...
Yup. those few centimeters are nothing for the person on the chair but can be a massive annoyance for the one behind.
 
C

Cheesecakebobby

Banned
I'm gonna get rich by selling individual clothes pegs as tools which allow you to stop the person next to you snoring and disturbing your flight
 
T

TomServo

Junior Member
Middle seat trying to use a laptop? Unless it's something akin to a MBA and you're passively watching a video on it, please go fuck yourself.
 
A

Ayumi

Member
Just a few days ago, I got an "Economy comfort seat" on an almost 12 hours long flight, mainly because of the awesome leg space it offered (I'm tall so I felt it was necessary (and it was awesome)). The seat offered great leg space, as well as "x more amount of recline space". But what I hadn't realized, was that my seat wasn't further away from the seat behind, it was the same.. Just with more recline space. As you can imagine, this must've be horrible for the people sitting behind me.

I actually turned around and asked the girl if it was okay for me to recline. She said it was fine, so I went all the way back. But even I noticed that it was too much, so I moved my seat a bit forward. This made me wonder how bad it must be for all those people affected by entitled recline assholes.
 
G

giga

Member
I never recline in economy out of courtesy for the person behind me. It's grossly uncomfortable for the person behind.
 
S

Sho_Nuff82

Member
I'm 6'4". If I don't want someone reclining, they won't, but I always ask politely anyway so there's no misunderstanding.

This is why I always try to fly Jet Blue.

FiveEyes said:
So now you can pay $21.95 to be an asshole?
Click to expand...

Is it really that hard to ask the person behind you if it's okay to fade into their lap?
 
T

teruterubozu

Member
I've never seen one of these.

LyGiRPz.jpg
kUHaftD.png


It even comes with a key - lol.

""If the guy won't compromise, whip out your Knee Defender."
– Washington Post

http://www.kneedefender.com/

What a fucked up product.
 
MilkyJoe

MilkyJoe

Member
SolidChamp said:
Indeed. I'm 6'2" tall and I'm a frequent economy passenger, especially on 12-13 hour long international flights. I reserve the right to ask someone politely to not crush my kneecaps with their reclining seat, but I fully expect them to exercise their right to recline as much as they want.

They paid for that fucking seat just as much as I paid for mine.
Click to expand...

I'm 6'4" and I reserve the right to tell the person in front that them having to sit up-right for a few hours is a hell of a lot more comfortable for them than for me to spend the the next few hours with crushed legs. I paid for my ticket too!

Until airlines stop treating people like cattle and space the rows a decent distance apart then anyone that reclines their seat is a bit of a bastard as far as I am concerned.
 
P

Peru

Member
Seriously- they should adjust all seats so that they can't recline more than the at present second lowest level.

I've sat on 10 hour flights with crushed knee caps trying to find ways to simply survive with the ability to walk off the plane at the end of the flight. I'm average height. If only people reclined a little instead of all the way this would be solved. Personally I've never felt the need to recline all the way.
 
NekoFever

NekoFever

Member
It still baffles me why the seats recline in economy at all when you get so little space. They can't go back far enough to make a difference to your own comfort and it ensures a miserable flight for the person behind.
 
daninthemix

daninthemix

Member
NekoFever said:
It still baffles me why the seats recline in economy at all when you get so little space. They can't go back far enough to make a difference to your own comfort and it ensures a miserable flight for the person behind.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Is it that much more dignified than those Indian human cattle trains?
 
Monocle

Monocle

Member
I love that there exists a device that does absolutely nothing except annoy strangers. It is entirely pointless unless the person in front of you tries to recline. Hilarious.
 
B

Bulbo Urethral Baggins

Banned
Do you recliners have no sense of shame or guilt? I do have to say that the number of asshole decliners seems to be decreasing.
This is a problem that a lot of airlines still need to address.
 
S

SmoothCB

Member
I'm 6'4" and usually just fork over the extra cash for economy plus/comfort or whatever each airline calls it. Definitely worth it especially on international flights.
 
T

TomServo

Junior Member
On a 10+ hour flight, expect everyone to recline. Most of them are scheduled and have cabin service based around the idea that nearly everyone is going to sleep.

If you think you're too tall to fit in a seat with the person in front of you reclining, pay for a better class of service. I'm 6'1", do multiple 14+ hour trips a year, and have plenty of room in premium economy.

Now, people reclining on short domestic flights? That's just amateur hour.
 
W

weremichael

Member
I knew it was going to be an United Flight. When you fly United, you're already pissed that you couldn't book another airline. So any little thing is going to push you into being an irrational asshole.
 
D

DBT85

Member
I was very happy on my flight from Luton to Sharm that the seats didn't recline at all. That's progress.
 
G

GasProblem

Member
I'm 6'6, if someone in front of me reclines their seat, I break my legs. I need to sit in the aisle seat so I can put my legs in the aisle. Or just sit at the emergency exit.
 
K

kswiston

Member
Most of these knee problems could be solved by taking out like a single row of seats in economy when designing these planes. They could just bump the prices up like 5% and let everyone have some breathing space.
 
M

Monochromaticx

Member
GasProblem said:
I'm 6'6, if someone in front of me reclines their seat, I break my legs. I need to sit in the aisle seat so I can put my legs in the aisle. Or just sit at the emergency exit.
Click to expand...

The emergency exit seat is the best man. Dat leg room. and the toilet is usually pretty close too.
 
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