Last week a video went viral after a passenger on American Airlines tweeted a video of a man repeatedly punching the back of her seat after she reclined. And it has sparked quite the debate on whether or not it is ok to recline your seat while flying!
“While we can all (hopefully) agree that punching the back of the seat of the person seated in front of you is never appropriate, whether or not it is ok to recline is one of those things that most people have an opinion on, often a strong one.”
During an interview on CNBC, Delta’s CEO weighed in on the issue saying:
“I think customers have the right to recline. We’ve been testing reduced recline, but I think that the proper thing to do is if you’re going to recline into somebody, that you ask if it’s OK first. I never say anything myself, though…if someone knows there’s a tall person behind them, and they want to recline their seat, I think the polite thing to do is make certain it was OK. I never recline, because I don’t think since I’m the CEO of the airline, I should be reclining my seat. And I never say anything if someone reclines into me.”
“Its honestly fairly reasonable advice, both for when you’re on an airplane and life in general: if you’re going to do something that impacts someone else, consider how it’s going to impact them (and maybe ask first) before you do it.”