Dayhoff Soundtrack: The Economist, “A passenger revolt against squashed legroom,”

Friday, September 18, 2015

The Economist, “A passenger revolt against squashed legroom,”

A passenger revolt against squashed legroom http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-economist-passenger-revolt-against.html

September 18, 2015 KED

Labels: Business airports airlines flying, Business airports airlines reclining seats, Civility, This is nuts

Some of the most miserable moments of my life while traveling have been flying for hours with the seat in front of me reclined in my face, and cutting off the circulation in my legs.

Flying today is a horrific experience – one of the easiest things the airlines could do to make the consumer experience a little more tolerable is to stop putting in seats in the aircraft that recline.

I have no idea whatsoever why the airlines have not addressed the matter – unless, you are proponent of the idea that airlines simply do not care. It is a persuasive argument.

As I wrote on August 31, 2014, http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2014/08/flight-diverted-when-passengers-feud.html, “I think that people who recline their seat into the face of the person seated behind them on an airplane are narcissistic sociopaths.” [https://www.facebook.com/kevindayhoff/posts/10203430956388172]

I cannot imagine any other circumstance in which it is considered permissible in society to intrude so far into another person’s personal space and make them physically uncomfortable and not ask even as much as ask permission or express any concern for the injured party.

On August 31, 2014, I wrote about this in response to an article on NPR about one of the many planes that have had to land early as a result of disruption on the plane caused by reclining seats: Flight Diverted When Passengers Feud Over Reclining Seat : The Two-Way : NPR – the link is still good, click here: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/08/26/343439537/flight-diverted-when-passengers-feud-over-reclining-seat?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20140831&utm_campaign=mostemailed&utm_term=nprnews#sthash.lYKx50Ec.dpuf

“Flying is already a pain. But a story from the Associated Press Tuesday really brings home the point: The wire service reports that an entire plane was diverted on Sunday after a fight broke out over a passenger's right to recline her seat…”

The latest article about the problem comes from The Economist, “A passenger revolt against squashed legroom,” Sep 11th 2015, 10:25 BY A.W. | WASHINGTON, DC

http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2015/09/airline-seats-1?fsrc=scn/tw/te/bl/ed/airlineseats

“Of the litany of annoyances pestering air travellers these days—the invasive security protocols, the baggage fees, the cancellations and delays—perhaps none ranks higher than the Incredible Shrinking Airplane Seat. Legroom seems to vanish with each passing flight. The marginally roomier exit-row seats now cost extra; so do the seats where spaciousness was until recently considered normal but now earns the label “premium economy.”

“Aeroplane designers recently took their efforts to pack passengers in like sardines to a whole new level, with a proposal to squeeze in more seats by facing half of them backwards.

“It’s enough to make you—well, sign a petition. As of September 9th, more than 31,000 people had done so…” Read much more here: http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2015/09/airline-seats-1?fsrc=scn/tw/te/bl/ed/airlineseats

I wrote on August 31, 2014, As if flying is not already unpleasant enough.... At 6' 3" I am constantly fighting this battle - the battle over the person in front of me on a plane reclining their seat into my knees and my face so that I cannot use the work tray, 'enjoy' my seat - or breathe...

In the past, after observing my plight, the flight attendant, without me asking, has required the person in front of me to put their seat in the upright position.

I too, have very-very politely asked the person on front of me to put their seat in the upright position and had that person absolutely refuse. At that point I usually "Zen it." politely and quietly.

I think that people who recline their seat into the face of the person seated behind them on an airplane are narcissistic sociopaths. Usually when it happens to me, I realize that I have been just given a signal that the person in front of me is aggressively rude and impolite and that I should be frightened of them. All I want to do is get to my destination. I usually simply avoid any interaction with them - at all costs.

Ultimately I agree with the commenters on the article that believe that it is the fault of the airlines. I am surprised that the planes are still built with reclining seats.

Reclining seats have caused so many problems on these planes that inhumanely pack people into impossible seating arrangements that I have no idea why reclining seat have not been banned...

All that said, I usually just grin and bear it when faced with such incivility.

Nowadays, I understand that flying is very unpleasant and I work hard to make the best of it. I just wanna get home - and not make an already very bad situation worse... http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2014/08/flight-diverted-when-passengers-feud.html

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