rkkwan

Sue - Fact is that I know one can get out of his/her seat without using the seatback in front. Several of us have explained in this thread it's possible.

So, if someone behind me grab my seat to get out, I do get annoyed. No, I don't get enraged. Usually, I won't say anything, and I'll get him/her the benefit of the doubt. But won't YOU get annoyed when the person behind you do the same?

And I sincerely, truly, will feel better if I know that the person behind me grab my seat because of a physical "issue".

4ForTheRoad

Maybe the physical issue is trying to get up when someone in front of them has the seat reclined, possibly more difficult for some than others.

ilovetotravel29

How can anyone say that they know that a person can definately get up without grabbing the front seat?

Maneuvering over seat pillows, a cramped floor space, stuff on the floor, arm rests that don't move, etc. You have to literally walk from armrest to armrest, or use both the front seat and the back seat to steady yourself.

I once saw a guy have to step over one man's lap in order to climb into his seat in the middle.

They pack us in tight, yes they do!

rkkwan

If I need to get out of a window or middle seat, I ask the other people to get out and I'll move. To climb over people is ridiculous.

SamH

I've found it useful to use the overhead to steady myself while getting into or out of a window or middle seat.
I don't need any explaination if you need to use my seatback to get up, just don't make a regular thing during the flight

mrwunrfl

rkkwan, it is good to hear you actually say the part about giving the other person the benefit of the doubt. That is the best attitude.

ilovetotravel29, if the armrests are immovable that means that it is an exit row and you have lots of room for getting out. For a lot of those exit rows the seat in front wouldn't be able to recline at all. So, I am not buying your story in that case. Still, if you have difficulty getting out, and you have to use my seat then just go ahead, I would not want you to get hurt.

I definitely can get out of any seat without touching the seat in front.

soccr, your suggestion of the announcement is not too far off. On a long haul flight, the FA announces what service will be offered and you can understand the pace of the flight. People will be sitting up during meals and the movie, reclining when it is sleep time at the departure. When there is a drink service or "light breakfast about one hour before landing" then you should know that cabin lights will come on, there will be general activity, and people sit up. After that service is over and/or maybe 40 minutes or so before landing then if you listen you will hear the pitch of the engine drop. That is your cue that in 2 minutes the captain will announce that you will soon be landing so you have to use the wc you should do it now to beat the rush.

Maybe one of the reasons I am more comfortable in United E-Plus is because those seats are usually occupied by frequent fliers who know the routine.

On Saturday, in US coach, I put my feet under the seat in front of me. That is the space where I could put a carryon and there is a rail in front that would keep the carryon from sliding forward. I felt somthing under there and kicked it a couple times thinking it was a pillow or the carryon of the guy in front overflowing the rail. I saw the guy turn around and realized that he was speaking to me. He was annoyed and asked if that was me kicking his feet! I said yes, that would be me, and I started to explain that it was my space but he moved his feet away so I let it go. I guess he was hooking his heels over the rail under his seat. Had to kick him a couple more times during the short flight to teach him.

mrwunrfl

Meant to say: when you hear the pitch of the engine change that is your cue that in 2 minutes the captain will announce last call for hitting the restroom. If you get up on the engine cue you will beat the rush.

ilovetotravel29

On a non-exit row aisle the armrest were not moveable on the plane in which I was on.

rkkwan

For landing, if there's no air traffic control issue, it can take as little as 20 minutes from the initial decent (from say 35,000 to 40,000 ft) to touchdown at a sea-level airport. It crosses the 10,000ft mark about half way, when they announced the final preparation - return seatback & tables, turn off electronics, etc.

Of course, longer if the plane is put on a holding pattern; shorter if landing at a high-altitude airport.

soccr

Clearly, a number of you never travel in regional jets.

rkkwan

What about the regional jets? They have the same seat width and same pitch as many mainland jets. Less headroom for many seats, for sure, but I don't think the seats are harder to get into or out of.

mrwunrfl

If the armrest didn't move then it was a bulkhead seat and no seatback in front to fold back. Or maybe you are just referring to the armrest on the aisle.

Sure, I've traveled on RJs. On some of them 2 of 3 seats are aisle seats. Most of the time people don't recline their seats on short flights. At least not reclined all the way.

On one of the Embraer planes there is a switch under the aisle armrest in exit rows that you can flip to lift it.

Underhill

The references to "my space" intrigue me. What are the boundaries, and who sets them?

karens

I had an unpleasant seat recliner in front of me on a flight to St. Thomas - it was a girl of about 20 flying with her parents. We were on an active runway, in a line to take off about 20 planes deep. Ms. Me reclines her seat ALL the way back. Usually I don't notice this, but I had NO room on this plane. I'm a small person, so I can only imagine how a taller person would feel. I *know* this is a touchy subject, so I was very careful to keep my voice and tone pleasant and asked her if should could move the seat up a little. She asked me Why. I replied that we are an active runway. Well, I'll put it up when we start to move. Sigh. So, again, carefully, I ask her if she is aware of just how little much room I had behind her. Yes, she retorted. The person in front of my dad put THEIR seat all the way back and my dad is smooshed. I could not believe it. She totally admitted she knew how bad it was what she was doing and she kept that d@mn seat back the entire flight.

Who was worse - Ms. Me or her two parents who witnessed the conversation and didn't say anything?

Carrybean

That might be a good opportunity to visit the loo several times always pushing down on her seatback because of the lack of space to get up. And then have an attack of restless leg syndrome.

marigold

Or else say you've noticed she has dandruff on the top of her head or that her roots are showing, and offer some advice on how to handle the problem.

esd

I didn't read all the replies so I'm not sure what the consensus is. HOWEVER, I just flew back from Lisbon to NO. The first leg of the trip was a packed TAP flight to Madrid. Very little room between rows. Under those circumstances I would NEVER lean my seat back. The man next to me had the seat in front of moved back and there was not a hand-length between his nose and that seat! We just looked at each other and shrugged.
Assuming that some people don't think about the consequences, I can't imagine someone ignoring a request from a person in back of them on some of these small, short, tight flights. Some folks are just plain hopeless!

LoveItaly

Some people think life is all about them and it doesn't matter where they are including on airplanes.

I just returned from the supermarket. The store was packed with customers. The cash register lines were really long. I started to walk to one of the lines and saw something that totally disgusted me. There was a sweet, quite elderly, lady with her cart, she had about five items in it. As she started to turn her cart to get into line a quite sloppy looking woman (probably mid 40's) with her cart stacked with groceries got a look of determination on her face and almost crashed into the dear elderly lady..all so she could be in line ahead of this dear soul. A young man (not more than 22 years or so) saw the incident, looked at me and rolled his eyes as in "can you believe that?".

I am sure this obnoxious woman is one who would not only leave her airline seat down the entire flight but would probably do everything within her power to make everyone around her as miserable as possible. Some people are like that unfortantly.

soccr

Regional jets have much less "foot room" in both window seats, thanks to the curvature of the itty bitty fuselage. If you're in the window seat of the 2-seat side, you might as well be in the overhead bin. And only some of the "larger" (it's a relative term) regional jets have "standard" seats - seats in the smaller ones, as my hips have told me in no uncertain terms, are narrower.

That obnoxious 20-yr.old deserved to be tattled on to the FA - the seat backs must be up for take-off, even if you're just taxiing. I assume you said, "well, I'm smooshed too, dearie."

HKP

soccr, agree with you but you sure don't want to refer to your hips that way with this crowd -- too easy straight line! In my case, it's actually a matter of my quads-of-steel.

It would never happen, but what if they made the seats like the more expensive ones that slide forward if you recline -- people wanting to lean back would have their knees shoved forward, and they might have to think twice.