The Right Time to Recline Airplane Seats

#501

8th January

(Source: www.travel.aol.co.uk)

Hey guys, recently I found a suggested post on Facebook about an article from the Chinese version of BBC website, and I’m quite agreed with and I would like to share with you guys.

The article is obviously translated from English, yet, I wish I could add in my ideas and rewrite this post in my own way.

So, now just take some time and read this post. It is quite useful for everyone when taking flights.

The Right Time to Recline Airplane Seats

Traveling is always been the priority of all holiday activities. After choosing your desired destinations, booking flights and hotel, packing your luggage, you would always wish that everything goes on smoothly, especially during the long journey in the airplane.

A long journey couldn’t be enjoyed with your eyes fully opened until the airplane lands (unless you are watching shows on the small personal TV). A nap is the best to deal the journey, and you try to recline your seat, but it seems to be stuck. What happened? You made sure that everything is normal, until you look behind.

Some passengers placed an item such as brackets, lock the tray table arms, avoiding the person in front to recline the seat. This scenario can be happened due to two main factors: The passenger behind is having a meal or using laptop. In this way, you are not allowed to lean back and take a good nap during the journey. What should you do?

There was one case happened in The United States, all because of this issue, where a passenger used a knee defender to prevent the passenger in front from reclining the seat. The passenger in front splashed the passenger behind beverage, causing trouble, that the airplane was forced to stop at a nearby airport, and the troublemaker was called to leave the airplane.

Reclining airplane seats is always been a doubtful issue among the passengers. Some passengers start a fight due to a few inches of spaces at their seats. This made stewardesses have to stop the quarreling in order to reclaim the calm.

All airlines set a rule that the airplane seats must be in the vertical position during gliding, departing and landing. Accidents mostly happen in these three phases, hence it is vital to make sure the airplane seats in vertical position for safety. On the other hand, while having meals, airplane seats are usually have to be in vertical position too. This is very important so that you could give convenience for the passenger behind to enjoy the meal.

Courtesy is everything in this issue. Do not forcefully recline the seat suddenly, it may cause injury and damage to the passenger behind and their possession such as the laptop. If you wish to recline your seat, always remember to turn back and ask politely. Usually, the passenger behind will reply “Yes” if condition allows, otherwise they will ask you to wait for a while before you could do that.

However, there is an exception that it is not suitable to recline your seat. If the duration of journey is short, such as 30 minutes, it is unusual to take a nap, so you need to have your self-knowledge, that you could not recline you seat. Meanwhile, asking maybe skipped at some condition. This happens during night flight, when everybody is going to take a good sleep. At this moment, there is no need to ask the passenger behind. Automatically, or looking at your surrounding, when everyone is reclining their seats, then you can do so as well.

Take this in your mind, you could be a well-behaved passenger of all time. Perhaps, your courtesy on your journey might give you unexpected surprises that will leave you unforgettable memories of all time.

(Source: modified from "Is It Rude to Recline Your Seat?", Beth Blair, www.bbc.com)