Delta CEO Ed Bastian was asked for his opinion on the great seat recline debate. His answer was a bit inconsistent, especially when explaining why he chooses not to recline when he flies.
Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Bastian was asked to comment on the viral story I covered earlier this week about a man banging, hitting, and punching a woman’s seat when she reclined upon him.
He first tried to dodge the question by contrasting the incident with Delta:
“We haven’t reduced our pitch on our aircraft in years. In fact, we’re going the other way. We’ve been adding a lot more pitch to a lot more seats.”
But when pressed further, Bastian said customers do have the right to recline, but should still ask for permission first.
“We ask all of our customers to show respect to their fellow customers…
“I think customers have the right to recline. We’ve been resting reduced recline…but I think he proper thing to do is, if you’re going to recline into somebody, you ask if it’s OK first, then you do it.”
That’s convenient for a leader in an industry that has, over time, reduced seat pitch and made the economy class seat more uncomfortable. Delta has reduced seat recline on its Airbus A320s from four inches to two inches in economy class.
Why Delta CEO Won’t Recline
Bastian added:
“If someone knows there’s a tall person behind them, and they want to recline their seat, I think the polite thing is to do is make certain it was OK. I never recline, because I don’t think since I’m the CEO of the airline, I should be reclining my seat. And I never say anything if someone reclines into me.”
A couple takeaways. Charitably, we could say that Bastian simply does not want to directly tick off his customers so he will not be “the one” who reclines. But if he believes customers have the right to recline, why does he think it is not something that he should be doing? Or if he believes that customers should ask first, why wouldn’t he say anything? (Bastian is 6’3″)
Blessed is the peacemaker, I suppose?
CONCLUSION
We’re left still without firm direction from the leader of Delta. Do we have to “make certain it is OK” before we recline or do we in fact have the absolute right to recline? If Bastian is setting the example, that means we can never recline and also cannot say anything when people recline into us.
image: Delta
I have noticed a few things about flying on Delta: (1) Passengers rarely if ever recline, and (2) Passengers close the window shades immediately after boarding the aircraft. I can do (1), but I cannot do (2). In fact I hate (2) and especially hate when the person(s) sitting next to me ask me to close the shade.
Now when flying on United, all passengers immediately recline after take-off, and all passengers keep the window shades open (with very few exceptions, like on early morning flights).
So, maybe Ed’s “no recline” has already gotten into the heads of the his Delta customers.
This is pretty funny considering the CEO s flying first class you don’t need to recline a first class ticket seat
How often do you think Ed flies in regular economy?
I’d say probably only for that WSJ Middle Seat interview…
..and you would be wrong.
I feel like this conversation goes beyond aircraft seats. I feel like it’s basic decency to check in with anyone you’re directly impacting with your actions. Let the person behind you know you’re reclining before you knock over their coffee. Check to see if everyone is ready before you pull down the safety bar on a ski lift, etc.
Basic. Human. Decency.
I don’t know about asking. I mean you ask and you are either gonna be told yes or no. Neither answer adds to the the decency of the situation.
@mallthus, I think that is a given. I recline, but never before checking behind me first and then very gently reclining. I’ve encountered so many rapid reclines over the years and they are indeed aggravating, especially if my laptop is open.
But I think the true issue is what happens when you indicate you will recline or gently recline and the passenger objects. Unless it is meal time, I think they have no right to object.
So if you ask and I say “I prefer that you didn’t”, which is the truth and what I would say each and every time you’re going to be satisfied with that answer? I am firmly in the don’t recline camp. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
There’s no reason to ask. I’m not asking for permission.
I recline my seat slowly and gently, so nobody gets stuff tossed in their lap, and I typically don’t recline during meals. But I really don’t care if the person behind me objects, and if they make their objection known, it’s not going to make me do anything differently.
The seats recline. Get used to it. If you don’t like that, book a seat in a premium cabin or get your own plane.
Sounds like the guy knows that reclining is rude so he doesn’t do it. You could make a strong argument that that means coach seats need more leg room, and I for one would firmly agree. Give people sufficient space and this becomes a non-issue.
I still dont get how using a feature provided by the seat is rude. On domestic flights in India most people recline as soon as they can.
Of course, as a meal is normally included on full service carriers and higher fares of LCCs, there is a one hour period when everyone has to put their seat up
Way to make himself into the hero…
This is such crap! I paid EXTRA on DL to secure a window seat on a recent 737-900 flight from ATL to GRR. The DL seat map was misleading as there was no window in my selected row. Had I been able to recline my seat more than an inch I might’ve been able to get a tiny glimpse out of a window in the row behind mine. The recline was so minimal it didn’t matter to me or the person behind me if I used it! That and the lack of legroom made me feel like I was on AA flight-
Stop promulgating the nonsense that there’s some “great seat recline debate”. There is no debate. None.
The seats recline. It’s a fact. If that fact makes some idiot unhappy, they should book a seat in a premium cabin, or get their own plane.
Is there some “great debate” over whether aircraft windows and doors should be opened during flight?
People are idiots.
On a flight from LHR to OSL recently I reclined my seat in row one. Of course, it’s BA short haul Club so…
I was tired from the flight from IAD the night before and just wanted to get my head against the wall and doze.
The man behind me was not happy. He started mumbling. Soon in my half asleep state he began purposely moving his newspaper over my head and scratching it. I ignored. Eventually he started pushing the back of my seat and getting more aggressive with the newspaper on my head.
I finally turned around and asked him if there was an issue. He told me to “put my seat forward and give him space.” I replied, “I have every intent on sleeping and since the aisle seat was vacant in his row he might consider moving.” And that, “Next time he might consider flying a private jet if he was so uncomfortable.”
Mostly I wanted to say, “Who the hell reads an actual newspaper on a plane anymore? Get a tablet, moron.”
I attempted to fall back asleep but he persisted. The newspaper was now fully resting on my head and began slapping it up and down.
I lost all patience. I stood up, came around to the aisle and aggressively informed him that if he did not cease with his actions that this would escalate. He mumbled something but retreated/submitted upon which I returned to my seat, reclined and fell asleep.
I am fully entitled to recline my seat. Nor am I required to ask permission. I just flew all night and if the airline wishes to allow the recline I will damn well take it. Nor will I become angry should a person in front wish to.
It’s completely ridiculous that this conversation is even taking place in society today.
Good for you. I would have tossed a full glass of water on him for the newspaper stunt. You showed admirable restraint.
Stuart, you did show admirable restraint. Good for you.
The guy was a massive tool to be sure. That said, if I can hold off on reclining at 6’4” and closer to 300 than I’d like, so can you. It’s called courtesy. If BA had real business class seats, this issue would go away but that’s not the case right now. As someone of my height crammed into a “business class” seat, I try not to intrude on the space of others, but often enough, my knees simply have no place to go. Maybe this was the case with the guy behind you or maybe not, but try thinking about your neighbor.
I agree with this. I will only recline if the person in front of me is reclining. The only other time I recline without care is domestic first or business. The reality is reclining doesn’t offer much and if you were really that tired, getting up and making a scene and getting all worked up isn’t the best decision. With that being said, his actions were out of line. I would have just reached around and grabbed the damn thing and either gotten it all or torn it and crumbled it up and thrown it at him.
He was not tall at all. He was of normal height, much less than my 6-3 frame. He was uncomfortable as it made his reading a newspaper more awkward.
I am not a douche, If the guy was 6-4 and 300lbs as you state I would have of course shown empathy. Lastly, he had an empty aisle seat next to him. And no one in front. If it was so troubling for his newspaper reading he could have easily slid over.
And why did I recline? Simple. By doing so it gave me a good position to rest my head against the wall for better sleep. I was not reclining for reclining sake.
I am of the opinion that humans are in general shitheads, and overhead bins and reclining seats need to be eliminated from economy.