A fight about seat reclining privileges grounded a flight

Chevy57

Chevy57

Sherlock Hound
Premium Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2004
Messages
11,353
Reaction score
5
A Knee Defender, a gadget that "helps you stop reclining seats on airplanes so your knees won't have to," was at the root of the disturbance.
United Flight 1462 from Newark to Denver was forced to divert to Chicago's O'Hare airport, according to United Airlines. The airline said that it does not allow the use of the recline-blocking device on its aircraft.
A federal law enforcement source, speaking on background, said the incident involved a male and a female passenger, both 48 years old.
The female passenger was unable to recline her seat and flagged a flight attendant.
The flight attendant told the man seated behind her to remove the Knee Defender device, but he declined. The female passenger then threw water in his face. The pilot decided to divert the flight to Chicago, where authorities met the aircraft.
The two passengers were removed from the plane before it continued on to Denver, United said. The passengers were not arrested.
The argument occurred in the Economy Plus section, which provides United passengers up to 5 inches of extra legroom compared with standard coach seats.

Flight Diverted After Passengers Feud Over

I dislike cheap seating. I always pay more for extra legroom in some airlines because i m taller at 6'1".
 
The flight attendant could had just removed Knee Defender device herself. I thought there was a flight Marshall on the plane too.
 
whatdidyousay! said:
The flight attendant could had just removed Knee Defender device herself. I thought there was a flight Marshall on the plane too.
Click to expand...

There probably was but their job is terrorism related...not correcting childish behavior....

Laura
 
Lau2046 said:
There probably was but their job is terrorism related...not correcting childish behavior....

Laura
Click to expand...

LOL ! That is so true but it did not seen fair to have everyone else made an extra landing b/c they where having a tantrum like 2 yo.
 
Perhaps it may not be long for economy class will not be able to recline their seats. I can understand the economy seats are tight in the cabin which can be a headache for tall people. Unfortunately, there is plenty of inconsiderable passengers who just want to sleep and recline a bit on the trip.

Once you are in the plane, you got to deal with it for a few hours depending on the length of the trip. Many airlines have roomy seats for extra fee or get some luck to sit behind the bulkhead so you won't worry about someone in front of you reclining their seat.
 
Knee Defender? it should be illegal. you want more space? pay up a few extra bucks.
 
My understand is that he was trying to use a laptop computer. I can see major problems if the person in front suddenly reclines and sends that laptop flying! So putting the Knee Defender on the the first place seems reasonably to me. Then work it out between the two people so that there is not a major problem for either.
 
Jiro said:
Knee Defender? it should be illegal. you want more space? pay up a few extra bucks.
Click to expand...

Agree with you. Well, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration says it hasn't banned the device as it doesn't have an impact on passenger safety.
But most major U.S. airlines, including United, do prohibit its use.

Should change regular fare price for all extra legroom seating (no longer cheap seating) If passengers are taller (6'4 to up), pay more for business class or first class.
 
Calvin said:
Perhaps it may not be long for economy class will not be able to recline their seats. I can understand the economy seats are tight in the cabin which can be a headache for tall people. Unfortunately, there is plenty of inconsiderable passengers who just want to sleep and recline a bit on the trip.

Once you are in the plane, you got to deal with it for a few hours depending on the length of the trip. Many airlines have roomy seats for extra fee or get some luck to sit behind the bulkhead so you won't worry about someone in front of you reclining their seat.
Click to expand...

I heard some airline already did that they removed the reclining part of their seats , this was on the news last night.
 
whatdidyousay! said:
I heard some airline already did that they removed the reclining part of their seats , this was on the news last night.
Click to expand...

if the seats are next to emergency exits (middle), the seats do not recline
 
Standing only instead of sitting on plane in near future? means low fare.
140710135952-skyrider-standing-plane-seat-story-top.jpg


'Standing seats' suggested for cheaper plane tickets - CNN.com

Awful!!!
 
Chevy57 said:
Agree with you. Well, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration says it hasn't banned the device as it doesn't have an impact on passenger safety.
But most major U.S. airlines, including United, do prohibit its use.

Should change regular fare price for all extra legroom seating (no longer cheap seating) If passengers are taller (6'4 to up), pay more for business class or first class.
Click to expand...
more like 6 ft and up. When I went overseas with a friend of mine, friend is at least 6ft tall...they had to sit in the first row behind the bulkhead. We were lucky that the trip over was half empty so they could move from assigned seat to bulkhead row. I think the same thing happened on the return flight too.

Seating is for sure limited in economy class but I don't think it's fair that taller people HAVE to pay business or 1st class (which cost MORE) just to fly- especially if they can just about only afford economy class.
 
I'm 6' 2" and try to buy the extra leg room seats when I can afford it. An extra 4-6 inches makes a huge difference in comfort in flights of more than one hour or so. If a person can get extra leg room seats, I don't see the need for a "knee blocker." Also, I don't know if people have the "right" to use their laptop on an airplane. It's a meal tray, not a computer tray...
 
Back
Top