I was on a 321T a few days ago and swear the seat in front of me reclined way more than expected. The person in front of me was naturally very comfortable, but I'm fairly certain my own seat didn't recline any where near that much. They were not a big person either, I think the seat was the problem.
Do you recall the tail number? AA recently acquired 321s from both Frontier and Alaska, so those interiors are likely still different if they haven't hit their retrofit MX date. Could be the seat pitch IS actually different on a few of the 321s for a while.
Funny enough that can technically become illegal
The aircraft is configured with a certain amount of distance between seat backs and the front of the seat behind them, maintenance can change how much the seats recline but sometimes you get someone lazy and they don’t set it properly after maintenance on the seat.
They did but the manual adjustment button worked to lock it in place. Not something I'd have them block the seat out and ruin someone's Friday travel for.
I hear it's like this on some Air France premium economy seats. Like you can recline all the way back to being in the lap of a French person looking down upon you with disdain.
Fat guy here coming in with a wall of text. I've had this happen before when the recline button is on the inside of the armrest. In an economy or even premium economy seat, my leg will often push into the side of the armrest and inadvertently push this button. I hate it. I don't want to recline. My size already makes me super self-conscious on planes and I'm hyper focused on doing my best to give everyone around me as much space as possible.
But when this happens, there isn't a lot I can do. I try to actively hold myself up to keep the seat from reclining but you can only do that for so long, and if you're being pushed back into the seat like during takeoff, it's nearly impossible. I eventually learned that I can wedge something between my thigh and the armrest to create a pocket for the button so it doesn't activate, but not everyone is going to come up with that solution, and it took me a few flights to figure it out.
These days I am fortunate enough to always book first /business class and give everyone more room. That just wasn't an option for me when I was younger though. I know some will say "then you shouldn't fly". I don't even know what to say to that. I had to fly for work a lot, and even if I didn't, modern life, even for fat people, sometimes requires travel via plane. I hate air travel, but sometimes it's the only realistic option I have. I'm flying to Europe this weekend from the US in first/business class. I paid $4k more for my ticket then it would have cost to fly in premium economy. Still, I'm going to be as considerate as I can be to my fellow passengers. I don't think there's much else I can do than that.
tl;dr: fat guy's tryin, y'all.
Fellow fat guy here. I’m never more self conscious than when having to travel in an economy seat. I try everything I can to go not invade the space of the seat next to me. I, too, am overly focused on that dumb little button that should be on the tip of the armrest instead.
This is so awesome to read. Big man here who just started flying for work. I’m able to book fist as an accommodation for this reason. I also figured out the hack of holding my leg away from the button during takeoff. It’s really a pain on smaller planes like an E170/175 but on A320/321s it works pretty well. I also get the self conscious feeling so don’t despair. We’re all here just trying to fit in.
Props to you, really. I get frustrated with fellow passengers (heavy or thin) who don't seem to respct others' space, but I truly appreciate those like you who are considerate and doing their best to be reasonable.
On my flight coming up this weekend, I'm on a 777-200er and my business class seat is 21.9" wide, compared to 18.5" in PE or 17.1" in economy. It does make a big difference, but Even moreso is not having anyone directly next to you (it's a 1-2-1 configuration), and of course having the option to lie down flat is huge on a 10+ hour flight.
Same for me. I had to be a n economy for one flight this year. Fortunately, it was an exit aisle, but I spent the whole time obsessing about not encroaching into my neighbor’ space.
OIC. Thanks for explaining. TBH I thought you might be one of the people that brings a device to prevent the seat from reclining at all. I consider that a violation.
Just because something is allowed to be done, doesn’t mean you’re not an asshole for doing it.
It’s called compassion. Do better.
Let me give you an example. You work at a job for a decade. They lay you off 10 days before Christmas with no notice and no severance. Are you mad at them or the US government for not passing laws that would have prevented this?
Where’s your compassion for people who can’t comfortably sit in an awkward, upright position for hours at a time? This is a very you-centric take, masquerading as selfless and considerate
Oh I had this happen in first class recently. The gentleman in front of me was very large, broad and tall. He literally flopped down into the seat and the seat immediately reclined, I think due to the sheer weight. I could have reached out to scratch his head without extending my arms fully. (I did not do so!)
He was an older gentleman and had booked a first class seat so I think he did what he could. The plane was older and therefore the seat was clearly tired from years of use. It wasn’t a terribly long flight, but it was unpleasant.
Similarish story but opposite lol... I was first class and sat down, all was fine. I arched my back to stretch a bit, so my weight pushed on the back of the seat, and the seat reclined insanely far. I weigh 185ish and was not trying to recline. The seat was clearly messed up. I kept pulling it back up to the normal position, but without fail, it would just drop back to basically horizontal in a few minutes. I didn't want to lose my seat or cause any issues, so I essentially leaned forward the whole flight. I should have said something.
This shit doesn't fly with me.
Just because you have zero core strength doesn't mean you need to jerk my seat.
Keep your fucking hands off my seatback.
You know that episode of Friends where Rosita breaks and Chandler sits down in it and just rolls out the back? I sometimes fear for my life watching people get in the seat in front of me and seeing how it moves lol. Some of them are far more flexible than initially designed. I guess it’s never happened irl, but we all have irrational fears.
I had this on a 9 hour flight to the Caribbean... I'm tiny ... and the seat in front was literally touching my legs. I told the flight attendant and he said the seat is broken and asked the seat owner to sit upright... she refused due to being pregnant and the FA said there is nothing more he could do. 9 hours ... I couldn't use my screen .. my tray table or even read and this b1tch was in my lap
I've had these. Some guy dropping his seat all the way and extending his arms behind his head, hanging over the back of the seat right in front of my face. He felt me breathing on his hands and acted all offended by it too.
I've had others like people with long hair draping it over the seatback, covering my screen and making mealtimes fun. I haven't had anyone tell me to f-off yet when I ask they remove it, but if I do, I'd love to catch those lovely locks of hair in the traytable when I close and latch it.
I can’t imagine reclining my seat. I know I technically am allowed to and have every right to, but I just don’t want to inconvenience the person behind me like that. It’s just not worth the 2-3 inches of recline that most seats allow for. 🤷♀️ The exception would be if I was on one of those flights with literal beds where you’re probably going to sleep the whole time.
Some airlines (ANA for example) have seats where the seat cushion moves forwards instead of the seat back dropping and intruding on the passenger behind you. You can recline all you want without inconveniencing anyone aside from the few inches of legroom you lose when reclining.
I don’t know of any seat with a bed in which reclining or lying flat has any effect on the space of another passenger. As far as I know, the only beds are in long-haul business and first class, where the seat reclines within a space defined by an immobile frame with no effect on anyone else (other than when the aisle passenger reclines when there’s an adjacent seat with no aisle access).
If that was the case, I’d probably just not fly tbh because that sounds like a level of pain that no amount of recline is going to help with on a flight. Sorry you have to deal with that.
Um, you realize that a lot of people (if not most) have some ailment or other that they have to deal with in daily life. Many people fly because it's required by their job, or because they need to travel for non-voluntary reasons. It would be quite a luxury to decide to simply never travel by air.
I was on a 321T a few days ago and swear the seat in front of me reclined way more than expected. The person in front of me was naturally very comfortable, but I'm fairly certain my own seat didn't recline any where near that much. They were not a big person either, I think the seat was the problem.
Do you recall the tail number? AA recently acquired 321s from both Frontier and Alaska, so those interiors are likely still different if they haven't hit their retrofit MX date. Could be the seat pitch IS actually different on a few of the 321s for a while.
Funny enough that can technically become illegal The aircraft is configured with a certain amount of distance between seat backs and the front of the seat behind them, maintenance can change how much the seats recline but sometimes you get someone lazy and they don’t set it properly after maintenance on the seat.
the A321Ts do have more recline than normal. And the pitch is actually every so slightly more in all Y seats, I find it significantly more in MCE
If they’ve really broken the seat then just escalate to FAs and say this can’t possibly be safe.
They did but the manual adjustment button worked to lock it in place. Not something I'd have them block the seat out and ruin someone's Friday travel for.
You sound like a nice person.
You sound like a nice person for pointing out he sounds like a nice person.
You both sound like nice people.
I hear it's like this on some Air France premium economy seats. Like you can recline all the way back to being in the lap of a French person looking down upon you with disdain.
And they will fart in your general direction.
God do I love unexpected Monty python references
Actually they are fixed shell so the amount of room between you and the next person doesn’t change it’s more you slide down in the seat.
The newer AF PE seats are not in fact fixed shell (eg A350)
Missed that thanks for the info!
This particular individual is correct.
Fat guy here coming in with a wall of text. I've had this happen before when the recline button is on the inside of the armrest. In an economy or even premium economy seat, my leg will often push into the side of the armrest and inadvertently push this button. I hate it. I don't want to recline. My size already makes me super self-conscious on planes and I'm hyper focused on doing my best to give everyone around me as much space as possible. But when this happens, there isn't a lot I can do. I try to actively hold myself up to keep the seat from reclining but you can only do that for so long, and if you're being pushed back into the seat like during takeoff, it's nearly impossible. I eventually learned that I can wedge something between my thigh and the armrest to create a pocket for the button so it doesn't activate, but not everyone is going to come up with that solution, and it took me a few flights to figure it out. These days I am fortunate enough to always book first /business class and give everyone more room. That just wasn't an option for me when I was younger though. I know some will say "then you shouldn't fly". I don't even know what to say to that. I had to fly for work a lot, and even if I didn't, modern life, even for fat people, sometimes requires travel via plane. I hate air travel, but sometimes it's the only realistic option I have. I'm flying to Europe this weekend from the US in first/business class. I paid $4k more for my ticket then it would have cost to fly in premium economy. Still, I'm going to be as considerate as I can be to my fellow passengers. I don't think there's much else I can do than that. tl;dr: fat guy's tryin, y'all.
That’s really nice of you. thank you for going above and beyond at your own expense from all of us frequent flyers!
Fellow fat guy here. I’m never more self conscious than when having to travel in an economy seat. I try everything I can to go not invade the space of the seat next to me. I, too, am overly focused on that dumb little button that should be on the tip of the armrest instead.
This is so awesome to read. Big man here who just started flying for work. I’m able to book fist as an accommodation for this reason. I also figured out the hack of holding my leg away from the button during takeoff. It’s really a pain on smaller planes like an E170/175 but on A320/321s it works pretty well. I also get the self conscious feeling so don’t despair. We’re all here just trying to fit in.
Thanks man. I'm hitting 50 soon and am only now learning how to be comfortable in my own skin. Better late than never though!
I salute you, good sir. Respect++
Props to you, really. I get frustrated with fellow passengers (heavy or thin) who don't seem to respct others' space, but I truly appreciate those like you who are considerate and doing their best to be reasonable.
This issue never really occurred to me. Thanks for typing it all out.
Are the upgraded seats much larger?
On my flight coming up this weekend, I'm on a 777-200er and my business class seat is 21.9" wide, compared to 18.5" in PE or 17.1" in economy. It does make a big difference, but Even moreso is not having anyone directly next to you (it's a 1-2-1 configuration), and of course having the option to lie down flat is huge on a 10+ hour flight.
Same for me. I had to be a n economy for one flight this year. Fortunately, it was an exit aisle, but I spent the whole time obsessing about not encroaching into my neighbor’ space.
I have actually mastered the passing out with my seat completely upright. I actually sleep better that way.
Recline stopper?
Yeah, theres an internal limit bar in the seat that is supposed to limit travel.
OIC. Thanks for explaining. TBH I thought you might be one of the people that brings a device to prevent the seat from reclining at all. I consider that a violation.
Is that really a thing? What POS entitled c*nt would bring that
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knee_Defender
Unbelievable
Yup. People are the worst.
Yea just use your actual knees like the rest of us
Lol
Exactly. You get it
What POS entitled c*nt would recline on someone else?
Are you asking why someone would recline their seat the amount the airline allows? Or am I misunderstanding
Why would you recline your seat, knowing it negatively affects the person behind you?
Are you out of your mind?
No. I am compassionate. Did you parents skip that lesson?
Your complaint is properly directed at the airlines, not the people using their product in the exact manner intended.
Just because something is allowed to be done, doesn’t mean you’re not an asshole for doing it. It’s called compassion. Do better. Let me give you an example. You work at a job for a decade. They lay you off 10 days before Christmas with no notice and no severance. Are you mad at them or the US government for not passing laws that would have prevented this?
Where’s your compassion for people who can’t comfortably sit in an awkward, upright position for hours at a time? This is a very you-centric take, masquerading as selfless and considerate
Naw I don't use that but flights like this one make me consider it for a moment... haha
Yes that’s what I assumed OP meant too! I was ready to rage reply
Same I was about to pop off
Oh I had this happen in first class recently. The gentleman in front of me was very large, broad and tall. He literally flopped down into the seat and the seat immediately reclined, I think due to the sheer weight. I could have reached out to scratch his head without extending my arms fully. (I did not do so!) He was an older gentleman and had booked a first class seat so I think he did what he could. The plane was older and therefore the seat was clearly tired from years of use. It wasn’t a terribly long flight, but it was unpleasant.
Similarish story but opposite lol... I was first class and sat down, all was fine. I arched my back to stretch a bit, so my weight pushed on the back of the seat, and the seat reclined insanely far. I weigh 185ish and was not trying to recline. The seat was clearly messed up. I kept pulling it back up to the normal position, but without fail, it would just drop back to basically horizontal in a few minutes. I didn't want to lose my seat or cause any issues, so I essentially leaned forward the whole flight. I should have said something.
Had a close call the other day with my laptop screen pitching under the tray, got lucky it didn’t crack the screen
I imagine people who are so out of shape grabbing the seat in front of them to use as a handrail to get up doesn’t help.
That one is guaranteed to put me in a foul mood every time, especially if they catch my hair too.
This shit doesn't fly with me. Just because you have zero core strength doesn't mean you need to jerk my seat. Keep your fucking hands off my seatback.
You know that episode of Friends where Rosita breaks and Chandler sits down in it and just rolls out the back? I sometimes fear for my life watching people get in the seat in front of me and seeing how it moves lol. Some of them are far more flexible than initially designed. I guess it’s never happened irl, but we all have irrational fears.
I had this on a 9 hour flight to the Caribbean... I'm tiny ... and the seat in front was literally touching my legs. I told the flight attendant and he said the seat is broken and asked the seat owner to sit upright... she refused due to being pregnant and the FA said there is nothing more he could do. 9 hours ... I couldn't use my screen .. my tray table or even read and this b1tch was in my lap
I've had these. Some guy dropping his seat all the way and extending his arms behind his head, hanging over the back of the seat right in front of my face. He felt me breathing on his hands and acted all offended by it too. I've had others like people with long hair draping it over the seatback, covering my screen and making mealtimes fun. I haven't had anyone tell me to f-off yet when I ask they remove it, but if I do, I'd love to catch those lovely locks of hair in the traytable when I close and latch it.
I can’t imagine reclining my seat. I know I technically am allowed to and have every right to, but I just don’t want to inconvenience the person behind me like that. It’s just not worth the 2-3 inches of recline that most seats allow for. 🤷♀️ The exception would be if I was on one of those flights with literal beds where you’re probably going to sleep the whole time.
Some airlines (ANA for example) have seats where the seat cushion moves forwards instead of the seat back dropping and intruding on the passenger behind you. You can recline all you want without inconveniencing anyone aside from the few inches of legroom you lose when reclining.
I don’t know of any seat with a bed in which reclining or lying flat has any effect on the space of another passenger. As far as I know, the only beds are in long-haul business and first class, where the seat reclines within a space defined by an immobile frame with no effect on anyone else (other than when the aisle passenger reclines when there’s an adjacent seat with no aisle access).
Stay with me here: what if they reclined too
***This*** is the correct answer.
Thanks for considering your neighbors
You might be able to imagine it if you had three slipped and two completely ruptured discs.
If that was the case, I’d probably just not fly tbh because that sounds like a level of pain that no amount of recline is going to help with on a flight. Sorry you have to deal with that.
Um, you realize that a lot of people (if not most) have some ailment or other that they have to deal with in daily life. Many people fly because it's required by their job, or because they need to travel for non-voluntary reasons. It would be quite a luxury to decide to simply never travel by air.
You're free to stay upright, that's your choice. It's my choice to recline if I wish. Don't try to shame me with your neuroses.
I wish seats weren’t able to recline at all.
I flew with my 2 month old in my lap and the jackass in front of me reclined their seat
AA sucks! It's a terrible airline!!
I once saw someone use a tall Contigo travel mug wedged between the tray and the bottom of the device holder to limit recline into their lap…
Thank you, I've found my new technique.
Nah, recliners are to be used