Man divides opinion after reclining his seat during long-haul flight

A MAN has sparked debate online after he annoyed the passenger behind him by reclining his seat on a flight.

The tall passenger revealed that he was trying to get comfortable during a recent trip, which caused the woman sitting behind him to complain, and slam the tray table into the back of his seat.

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He reached out on Reddit to see if he had behaved unreasonably, or if he was in the right.

He wrote: “I’m 6 foot 5 and am always uncomfortable on airplanes. I try as best as I can to get exit rows or bulkhead to help out but sometimes there’s nothing left.

“I was recently on a 10 hour flight that started at 9am. As soon as the seatbelt sign turned off I leaned back my chair to relax and maybe catch a nap.

“I woke up with the person behind me getting up to go to the bathroom — totally normal and didn’t think much of it.

“I went to the bathroom after and my seat neighbour (not someone I know just someone I struck up a conversation with), let me know the lady behind me had moved my seat up. We both thought it was odd.

“I reclined my seat again and heard a DRAMATIC SIGH come from behind me. I overheard the lady loudly complaining about me saying, ‘people are so inconsiderate’ blah blah blah.

“So I turned around and said, ‘is something wrong? Are you talking to me?’ The lady brushed me off and said, ‘no I’m just talking to my friend here’.

“So I turned back around; happy there was no issue and kept my seat reclined, and for the rest of the trip she continued to slam the tray table, pull my chair, try to be annoying every 30 minutes or so.

“Obviously she didn’t like that I was leaned back, but she never asked me to lean forward and I didn’t feel like indulging her bullying behaviour.

“I also saw her chair reclined at one point when she was sleeping.”

Some people were on the man’s side, saying he was well within his rights to recline his seat on a long-haul journey.

One wrote: “The seats are designed to recline, so it is reasonable to do so…provided you do it slowly and carefully so as not to damage a computer or spill a drink behind you.”

Another said: “Everyone’s uncomfortable on the airplane, just how it is unfortunately.

“However, she was being overly rude and childish, and the fact that she got mad at you for reclining and then also reclined is ridiculous.”

Others disagreed and said he should have been more courteous to the woman behind him.

One said: “You chose to recline your seat. That means she has no room. Her being annoying was likely just her regular movements throughout the flight that impacted you because you were in her space.

“Did you expect her to not move at all so that you could be perfectly comfortable for 10 hours?”

There were also those who felt neither were in the wrong in this situation and that airlines are the ones to blame for feeling uncomfortable during flights.

One said: “The airlines are really the problem here. The seats have gotten smaller, the rows narrower, and the aisles minuscule all in the name of fitting in more passengers.”

Last month flight expert Ben Schlappig, who has flown more than 4.7million miles explained the etiquette for reclining seats on planes.

In a blog post on One Mile at a Time, he claimed that reclining a seat is a right for all passengers, regardless of who they are sitting in front of.

He said: “For me it’s quite simple. Reclining your seat, when the functionality is available, is a right. After all, the recline button is located at your seat, and not the seat behind you.”

This passenger revealed the best seat to book in economy class for passengers who want to get comfortable.

This is the UK airline with the most comfortable economy class seats.

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