Remember just a bit less than a month ago when I was all salty about reclining seats in airplanes? I remember it. Boy was I worked up! I even went so far as to say reclining your seat was ethically wrong! Man, I sure seem to like the drama, huh? Maybe, but you know what? I stand by what I said: there is something wrong about reclining your seat on an airplane, because you are actually taking space from someone else. If you ask, and they’re cool, then that’s okay, because the space is given. But to just do it? That’s a dick move. Well, I’d like to say that it seems like a major airline agrees with me, because they have eliminated reclining seats in their Economy class.
I could pretend this was done because they have similar altruistic ethical concerns about the practice, but let’s be honest here, they’re doing it to make money by allowing it on more expensive seats. The airline, Canadian budget carrier Westjet, is just as avaricious as any of them, I know that, but part of me is still willing to see this as a mild sort of victory.
WestJet’s press release about this buries it in a larger release about a “major cabin reconfiguration” and refers to the non-reclining seats euphemistically as a “fixed recline design”:
The modern cabin experience will offer a bright, airy atmosphere with an upgraded design that features new seats, adjustable headrests and enhanced cushion and back support with a fixed recline design in Economy that helps preserve personal space. The interior will also include in-seat power sources, personal phone/tablet holders and reworked lavatories and galleys.
They do note that the “fixed” design “helps preserve personal space,” and I agree with them there. Really, were I in charge of WestJet – an opportunity that has so far eluded me, likely because of either some sort of unfair prejudices about my hair or my nearly complete and total lack of experience or aptitude for the job (probably the former reason) – I would have really leaned into this as a bold ethical choice made for the betterment of humanity as a whole. I possibly would have even arranged to give myself a medal from some sham humanitarian aid charity, if possible. See, I’d be a great CEO of WestJet!
The image provided in the press release is a render of the inside of an airplane with some pretty thin-looking seats. though they don’t seem all that much worse than the other major budget carrier’s seats. The seats have USB charging ports, but no screens, with that area taken up by a holder for safety cards and one of those airline magazines that only appeal to readers currently incarcerated in some sort of solitary confinement and without anything else at all to read. I suspect that people in that situation might read an airline magazine, if a Dr.Bronner’s soap wrapper was unavailable.
WestJet also released a video that, interestingly, does show reclining seats in their upgraded seating area:
This video is so weirdly unappealing; maybe it’s just the sterility of it all?
I’m sure there will be people who will decry the choice to eliminate reclining seats as just another way airlines are screwing us over, and while I don’t doubt that’s essentially true, I prefer to think of it as an airline removing the option for you to get screwed over by your fellow passengers. I guess the airlines want to keep that privilege for themselves.
Perhaps it’s down to the airlines I choose to fly with, but this isn’t an issue I’ve had to deal with, possibly ever.
I’m 6′ 3″, 240 lbs. I don’t fit into some sports cars as well as I fit onto airplane seats. I just flew on a Delta A321 from DEN, got caught in a cluster arriving in ATL, and had to divert. 3-ish hour flight turned to almost 5 hours on the airplane, and I was fine. I’ve had people recline, and while it pushes the back of the seat toward my face, I’m normally using my iPad, so there’s practically no difference. If I couldn’t recline, that would be the thing that made flights unbearable. Partially reclining (an inch or two) makes those seats bearable!
The one and only flight I can remember having an issue with room was my one flight on a Skybus owned plane (remember their single year in business? No? All the better for you, I promise!). I had my ass as far back as I could manage, and was sitting as upright as possible, and my knees were still in the back of the seat ahead of me. I got lucky that it wasn’t a full flight, and I got to steal space from the middle seat. Until the regular airlines get that bad, I’ll be OK.
Fine by me. At 6’4″ anytime someone reclines in front of me my knees eat the back of their seat and I have to hunch my back/neck to see the in-flight entertainment. Seat ergonomics are also so terrible for someone my height that I never personally recline.
I certainly don’t fault someone for taking advantage of that feature, but I don’t mind having that feature revoked.
Not only the airlines but train operators in Europe, too. Deutsche Bahn (DB) and Österreicher Bundesbahn (ÖBB) have fitted the trains (regional and long-distance services) with non-reclinable seats for more than a decade.
For its long-distance trains (ICE and IC), Deutsche Bahn made a clever design so that the seat back remains non-reclinable but the seat back and bottom pads move down and forward respectively, giving the illusion of “reclinable” seat back.
That’s the way to do it. If someone wants to recline, they have to give up their own leg room, not steal mine.
I agree with this for short flights, but I usually take a plane for 7-8 hours flights overnight, and I think all the seats should be reclined during these flights.
Our republic is being overrun by masked Gestapo agents violently arresting peaceful moms, guys in frog suits and people on the way to pick up their kids at day care, yet here I am pondering the injustice of being unable to recline my seat.
Sometimes you need to read something to pull you away from it all for 5 minutes. Your brain needs a rest just like the rest of your body.
The “recline or not” content is starting to feel a bit played out here, and too ragebaity for the rare journalistic standards that keep me coming back to The Autopian…
I think that the utterly trivial nature of the recline issue makes it a perfect target for ragebait style articles because no one sane (who isn’t currently on a long haul flight) could possibly feel rage about it.
Like the constant amber turn signal propaganda.
Amber turn signal gospel. Gospel is the word you were looking for.
Amber is the one true colour.
Amber is the way.
And also shows us the way.
It’s like the third line in St. Amber’s prayer. “You are the light, show me the way”.
Username checks out. 😉
In theory, there’s nothing wrong with reclining. But with the pitch currently offered by airlines, reclining shouldn’t be an option. Either increase the legroom back to what it was or remove the recline feature. WestJet gets this one right.
Nobody fights over reclining in business class – because there’s enough room anyway.
I hate modern flying so much. You know what I’d like? A friggin bed. Throw me into a large bank drive through canister, stack us like torpedos, idgaf. I just want to lay down and pass out. Airline seats are so horribly uncomfortable for long periods of time.
Also that way everyone gets both a window and an isle.
I’m all for torpedo tube passengers.
Be careful what you wish for. I’m sure after a couple of revisions, we’ll be stuffed into nothing more spacious than a sausage casing.
As for using the bathroom, there’s a 30$ upcharge for United’s RCS (Robotic Catheter System). An extra 20$ upcharge for whatever Torch attached to himself to simulate shitting in space.
Would it be frowned upon if I brought an adjustable bar on the plane to wedge between my seat and the seat in front of me? If TSA asks I’d just say, nunya biznass
Those Dr. Bronners bottles are so weird and so stressful.
I love Dr. Bronners, but whenever I start reading the bottle I feel like I’m funding a cult. So I stop reading and just pretend it doesn’t exist.
Look at all that wasted space in the aisle, they could fit people up on the roof using hammocks.
That would be preferable to those 90 degree seats. I would pay more for that.
I would absolutely take a hammock over a seat. I’ve spent many afternoons napping in my backyard hammock.
The small victory of recline removal would be tempered by the terrible pitch and seemingly thin padding on the seats in basic economy. I hope to be incorrect regarding this assumption and hope the seats retain a modicum of comfort, but spine-destroying seats aren’t worth it beyond a short flight, recline or no recline.
Westjet has seemingly tested the limits of ‘economy’ and ‘nickel-and diming’ since they folded their ULCC operation Swoop back into their mainline brand, so do try their ‘value’ product on a shorter flight before singing their praises.
I’ve flown right around a half million miles in the past 10 years or so, and the ONLY time I ever recline my seat is when I’m in first class, and/or on a flight to Europe where I need to get some sleep. If I’m not in first class, I always try to book an exit row, because of the extra legroom, but also because the seats don’t recline. Coach seats on a single aisle aircraft like a 737, A320, E175, etc. do not need to recline.
Even in first class, reclining your seat makes it a bitch and a half for the person in the window seat of the row behind you to get out.
As a general condition, I agree with this move.
I’m curious, though, if anyone has thought about – or even attempted – a seat where only the top few inches (headrest area) reclines as opposed to the entire seat back. You could lean your head and neck back, fully supported, without deeply encroaching into space behind you because your torso remains upright. Seems like a workable compromise though it would require new seats, but the Westjets solution requires that, too.
This should at least reduce the risk of your flight being diverted because someone got punched over a reclined seat.
They don’t recline, but they’re also closer together because they reduced the pitch. So you get the seat closer to your face anyway, but without it being reclined to give relief to the person in front of you. Worst of both worlds. And you’re not paying less – that’s not how ticket prices work. Price has nothing to do with cost.
And stop trying to “work” on your damn computer in steerage. Just sit there with you stale pretzels in misery like everybody else.
I have no issue with this, but it’s also why I won’t fly a ULCC on any route over 3-ish hours. If you’re willing to transport me 1200 miles for $100 round trip, I’m not asking for nor expecting any comfort.
The seats do have device holders, which more airlines need to add so I don’t have to hold my damn phone the whole time I want to watch a movie.
Some people choose the most minuscule hill to die on.
A minuscule hill to you is a mountain to Jason, a man of modest stature.
Daaaaaaaaang. I’m not sure Jason is going to recover from that one.
Well said.
Glass half empty/glass half full. I think this is a net positive. Reclining causes a lot of arguments. Now people can actually say they paid for it and have a right to do it and people who don’t like it can pay for a cheaper seat. Just be careful not to get the economy seat behind the recliners.
You’ve always been able to say you paid for it. You bought a ticket for a seat. That seat reclines; boom, you paid for it. You aren’t buying a ticket for some sort of 3-Dimensional space that get’s infiltrated when the person in front you reclines. You are paying for the seat.
Seats that don’t recline are generally cheaper (back row), and seats where the one in front of you can’t recline (front row, exit row) are more expensive.
The whole idea that people buy “normal” seats and then don’t want the fella in front of them to recline is just mind boggling to me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating to slam your seat back at lightspeed; but a slow and predictable recline is just using what you paid for. I had no idea it would be contentious.
Jason I suggest you talk to David the engineer. If you recline your seat and I recline my seat you don’t lose any space and everyone can be more comfortable. I propose the people complaining recline their seats but don’t want the people in front of them to recline so they get more space. Given the actual recline measures 3 inches is it really that much space?
It’s never been an issue for me, but I’m short. Some of the taller people have valid concerns from what I can tell.
Most planes are configured so the last row is right up against the bulkhead and has no recline so at least one row of people will still get screwed.
I’m 6’4″. Reclining my seat does not relieve any (or enough) room for my knees if the seat in front of me reclines. Actually had a six hour flight this past weekend and the guy in front of me started to recline. I “pushed” his seat back into position since my knees were already jammed up. It was extremely painful when he started to recline, so no regret over my action. A passenger should not be able to inflict physical pain on me just so they can be a bit more comfortable.
The flaw with your reasoning is the bottom part of the chair doesn’t move. So even if I recline, my knees stay in the same position, which is already pressed in to the back of your chair. Thus when you recline, you recline into my knees. So yes, if we both recline our heads remain in the same relative position, but the back of your chair intrudes into my knees.
I admit at 5:6 none of the above situations have occurred to me. And I was at the point to apologize and agree that seats should not recline. Then it occurred to me the female LS of our species as a rule tend to prefer taller guys. Even 4:5 women want guys over 6 feet. So if the taller guys are getting the girls I’m reclining my seat. If we can figure out a quid pro quo I’m amenable to not reclining my seat. Especially since I seldom fly anymore or date.
Good for them!
BTW JetBlue’s A321neo planes, which are mostly used on their longer flights but sometimes on their coast-to-coast flights have great seats even in the way back seats. I was really impressed last week. Also bigger overhead racks.
I miss JetBlue. They got kicked out of my airport for Skybus, and never decided to return neigh on 20 years later.
And who doesn’t love a big rack?
A lot of times, the person who has to carry it around all the time.
If I am not mistaken, Spirit’s seats don’t recline.
If you’re on a Spirit flight, you’re not concerned with comfort, you’re concerned with survival.
That’s the Spirit!
…I’ll see myself out
I can never decide if it’s like wine and spirits, or ghosts and spirits.
Dead or drunk? Dead drunk?
Also, the planes are painted the color of pee.
I took a Spirit flight once and ended up with an unplanned 6 hours in the Salt Lake City airport. So much braided hair!
You’re wrong, so very wrong.
Not that I would fly WestJet, but at least know I know for certain.
I prefer a couple of inches of recline.
But I’ll take none over the head in my lap recline some seem to like.
What?