Fresh off the last salvo in the perpetual seat recline debate comes a new twist. Should an airline compensate when your seatmate breaks your laptop?
First, the facts.
Pat Cassidy was flying Delta in economy class and working on his MacBook Pro when suddenly the passengers seated in front of him rapidly reclined.
The move destroyed his laptop, damaging the screen and rendering the device unusable.
This has almost happened to me before and the only way I saved my laptop was by quickly pushing back against the seat with all my strength then pulling my laptop out. I survived with a couple scratches on my laptop case. Cassidy wound up with this:
@Delta small note for the suggestion box, maybe have a little warning sign or someway to prevent my laptop from being destroyed when the person in front of me reclines their seat. pic.twitter.com/QHmphXiDhH
— Pat Cassidy (@HardFactorPat) February 26, 2020
Cassidy was not happy about what happened and become angrier when a flight attendant defended the reclining passenger, tweeting to Delta:
Also, this one is more of a critique than a suggestion. I really appreciate that your flight attendant came over to tell me that the passenger in front of me ‘needs to be able to recline’ and then asked him ‘if he was okay?’ as if your seat hadn’t just ruined my livelihood.
Delta, however, was unwilling to accept responsibility. Cassidy sent his account of the incident to customer service and received the following response:
“I’m sorry your laptop was broken due to another passenger reclining on your seat. It’s not fair when one person’s behaviour affects another person.
“Please know that personal property damaged in-flight as a result of a passenger action is not reimbursable. We regret the inconvenience this has caused you.
“As a goodwill gesture, I’m adding 7,500 bonus miles to your SkyMiles account…”
Should Delta Get Off The Hook So Easily?
Most seem to think that Cassidy, especially because he self-identifies as a frequent flyer and claims to have Delta elite status, should have known better.
And yes, it is true that he should have known better.
But isn’t is also true that Cassidy used his tray table exactly as it was intended? If the tray table wasn’t intended to be used for in-flight work space, why would Delta offer power ports and wi-fi? Why would Delta tell passengers to put their laptops away prior to takeoff and again for landing?
And didn’t Cassidy’s seatmate use his seat exactly as it was intended? Shouldn’t the recline button be used to recline?
So if both passengers did nothing wrong, why are we discussing a broken laptop? Could it be that the airline did something wrong instead? That by not providing more legroom or at least issuing a warning not to rapidly recline (because it clearly isn’t common sense) that it was proximately responsible for the damages that occurred?
Now that may not be a convincing argument, but to dismiss any culpability on Delta’s part is simply wrong in my opinion.
CONCLUSION
I know better now. I do use my laptop in economy class, but I am very careful about it and never extend the monitor to a point in which it could become damaged if my seatmate suddenly reclines.
If Cassidy is a frequent traveler, he should have known better. He also pulls the “DYKWIA” card, which is cringeworthy.
I’m just not sure that’s going to be good enough, not sure if you picked up on this but I have a podcast.
— Pat Cassidy (@HardFactorPat) February 26, 2020
But I think it would be wrong to place the entire blame on him. After all, he used his tray table as intended and his seatmate use his seat recline button as intended. Doesn’t that mean something is wrong…?
Please, if you recline, recline gently.
Finally, if you’re a frequent traveler using a Mac device, I hope you opted for Apple Care coverage. I cannot emphasize enough how instrumental Apple Care has been when I have damaged my laptops or phones. Don’t play Russian roulette with your pricey electronic devices.
Delta has nothing to do with this. He used the tray to place his laptop. If he really is a frequent traveler he should know that the passenger front of him could recline its seat so he took the risk. I love when people think they can get anything by using social media.
Couldn’t agree more!
I am a frequent flier as well. Whenever I use my laptop in flight, I put it on my… LAP.
If I am using a laptop I always tap the person in front of me and let them know I am using a laptop and to please let me know before they recline. Simple solution.
Is there any possible way for you to please make it so that your entire articles open in feedly, instead of having to click multiple times to get to the website to read? Other blogs I follow all are able to do this, I was wondering if you can please try to do this as well as it makes it a lot more readable.
OMG yes! It’s so frustrating. I think it’s because this site is only setup as a partial RSS feed instead of full. At least that’s what my limited knowledge and Googling has told me.
Actually, I buy this argument, Matthew. The fact that he’s a frequent flyer is immaterial; the same thing could have (and surely has) happened to someone who doesn’t travel regularly. Delta – and pretty much any airline with pitch so small that this could happen – really needs to advertise this possibility. I think that Delta should shoulder some of the culpability.
This is why I like bulkhead and exit row seats: there is no one to recline into my space. 🙂
And 7,500 SkyPesos is just a slap in the face, IMO.
His laptop should not be wedged into the top of the tray table edge. He should have just placed it on the actual tray table without trying to lock it under the tray table space. This would have prevented his laptop from being ruined.
I was just about to ask how this damage could’ve occured but what you’ve described makes sense. Not that I normally use my laptop inflight but is it a fairly common (or easy) thing for people to place their laptop just so that the edge of the screen is wedged in to the frame of the tray table space on the seat in front? Seems like an accident just waiting to happen.
Reasonable argument that there’s a design flaw in the seats. I would think if someone reclined, the worst that should happen is that it would push the lip further open or closed. Still trying to picture how a recline exerts a crushing force in the direction needed to cause that damage. . . unless there was something with the seat which would easily cause something to get jammed as soon as a seat starts reclining. They decided the pitch and recline – the need to make sure a reclining seat wouldn’t damage anything on the tray tables. Iffy – but not unreasonable.
I’ve had this almost happen, when you pull the tray table down there’s a laptop screen sized lip on the seat back. Because of the tight space, it generally requires having the screen open at a wider angle than natural, say 120° instead of 100°. The recline then basically traps the laptop screen and having 150+lbs of force where the screen has nowhere to move and obviously can’t flex would easily break it.
I really think at current pitches, recline should just be taken away. It’s just not feasible. Let’s stop pretending there’s enough room to recline. You are too large/tall, have back pain, etc and need to recline? Please buy an extra legroom seat with recline function preserved.
It must suck to be so poor to have to fly commercial.
The passenger should sue delta. I would be sympathetic to his claims that the seat pitch is to blame. Whether delta is their choice.
I personally hope people sue more and don’t settle (hint, hint) so there is guidance for others in the future. The whole settlement and NDA is a sham, Americans trying to pretend they are law abiding, but it’s really buying people’s silence.
You talk big. Would you cover the legal fees ih he sues? Lawyers wouldn’t do it on contingency cost because they know that claim is a bark with no bite.
No of course not. I am not complaining on social media either. The only reason for delta to pay them snything is they do not sue.
Our president has gotten so rich by suing everyone and using these nuisance lawsuits to get out paying back loans but everyone else has to think twice before filing lawsuits. Proves how shitty this country is. Americans are just big posers about being law abiding and equal justice.
The president, prior to holding its office, was a rich enterpreneur with good lawyer on his payroll. You, what are you? You know nothing about law. Even for a troll, you are too stupid.
Unlike a dog that can bite, you only bark again and again. I sincerely pity you, debit.
Seriously?, … sue them for what ? — not finding out if every passenger on their flight has good manners or will not do something carelessly or on impulse? People are selfish and rude so the best we can do is protect our assets – laptops or items we don’t want destroyed by keeping them out of harms way or where will forget them, lose or damage them ourselves. Get insurance if it’s that expensive an item.
No, Delta should not compensate him.
Why not?
A on 2 March 2020, 4.15 pm has explained it
I’m pretty sure the passenger in front of him should reimburse the laptop (or at least the insurance of the person in front of him).
It’s not about doing anything wrong, it’s about because of whom’s actions the laptop was destroyed.
For example I was on a golf course at the tee off, when I stepped on the glasses a player put on the ground right next to it. I stepped on them breaking them. Surely you can’t expect that somebody puts glasses right next to where a everybody walks through. Yet it was up to me to reimburse on the damage, despite it not being reasonable for the other person to put their glasses on the ground there.
I’d argue it is also in the responsability of the person who is reclining to make sure not to break or damage anything by doing so.
Arguing to sue delta over this is like saying you’ll sue the baseball bat or ball manufracturer, because a kid hit and broke your laptop with it while using them as intended to play baseball.
Your logic is somewhat twisted
How so?
No use explain it to you, you are too stupid for it even more stupid than debit.
But isn’t is also true that Cassidy used his tray table exactly as it was intended?
Nope.
If the tray table wasn’t intended to be used for in-flight work space, why would Delta offer power ports and wi-fi?
Charging phones and/or tablets
Why would Delta tell passengers to put their laptops away prior to takeoff and again for landing?
Safety standards reasons.
I almost had this happen to me once when I had the screen on my laptop under the ledge that the tray goes into. I frankly got lucky that it didn’t damage my laptop.
And no I don’t think anyone would have owed me compensation. I don’t subscribe to the view that companies must place labels everywhere warning you of every possible hazard. Especially when the nature of that hazard was not known or not foreseeable when the product was created. And the basic design of economy seats does predate laptops.
The miles were a nice good will gesture by Delta but in this case I think the poor guy is just out of luck.
OK, I am firmly in the camp of “only an a**hole slams their seat back without first looking back to see who’s behind them”. Personally, I think that airlines need to simply get rid of recline in economy seats because they’ve reduced the pitch so much that it leads to stuff like this. Yet, having said all that, I don’t think that Delta should compensate the passenger for this. We’re all adults here and we all know what can happen if you’re working on a laptop that’s on the tray and someone comes slamming backward. I wouldn’t blame the pax if he reacted like the guy in that video and punched the seat repeatedly. But overall, these are the breaks and sometimes crappy things happen to you. Suck it up and deal with it.
It is plausible that there is a design defect in the seat which caused severe damage to the laptop. Weighing against that is if the harmed passenger should have known and exercised sufficient caution.
What if a passenger swung open a lavatory door and slammed into another passenger waiting, causing a bloody nose. In that case, I think the harmed passenger should have known to keep a little distance and avoid a bloody nose.
There is no practical solution to the seat recline problem. Possible legalistic mumbo jumbo would be to have a written or oral warning, like the McDonald’s “coffee is hot”.
Perhaps the harmed passenger would use a seat recline defender, which prevents recline and then remove it and his/her laptop when the seat is in the process of recline?
I think it is a reasonable argument to make that both passengers used their seats in an expected and normal way and it resulted in harm, ergo the fault lies with Delta. Either in their design of the seats or (and I really don’t think this is useful or helpful to institute since no one listens anyway) in not warning passengers to be mindful when reclining.
The bottom line is that the passenger experience is a misery on most carriers in economy, and yet people still fly so airlines keep going with making things smaller/tighter, and will continue to do so until it becomes unsafe to evacuate the plane (the only standard they are currently held to) or they are held monetarily accountable for these incidents in a meaningful way (e.g. not 7,500 miles).
I thought you bloggers supported each other.
FYI – He blogs for Barstool
Aside from the “should do” component, in 15 of serious air travel, not a single time has someone in front of me looked, checked, asked, etc. before reclining. And I am quite unsure of the material difference between slamming and reclining slowly. On a similar note, I have never looked behind me before reclining.
I never open a laptop on an airplane for precisely this reason. I have had to snatch it back one too many times to avoid precisely this outcome. It is iPads only on airplanes for me. Smaller and, now, just as functional.