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Home » Delta Air Lines » Should Delta Flight Attendants Have Thrown Off Man Who Repeatedly Reclined His Seat?
Delta Air LinesFlight Attendant

Should Delta Flight Attendants Have Thrown Off Man Who Repeatedly Reclined His Seat?

Matthew Klint Posted onApril 4, 2025April 4, 2025 22 Comments

a row of seats in an airplane

How many chances should a passenger be given to obey lawful crewmember instructions? Twice? Three times? Just once? A recent seat recline incident on Delta Air Lines forces us to consider this dilemma.

Delta Case Study: How Should Flight Attendants Respond To Man Who Repeatedly Reclined His Seat Before Takeoff?

A Delta flyer recently experienced a seatmate who would not respect flight attendant instructions to bring his seatback up for takeoff.

Recently sat in the first row of Comfort+ on a flight. First Class guy directly in front of me sits in his chair as we’re boarding and immediately reclines his seat. No big deal.

After everyone is boarded, and we’re ready to roll, the flight attendant tells him to put his seat in the fully upright position which he does. The second she turns to walk away, he reclined it again.

A second flight attendant comes by and asks him to put it in the fully upright position, and once again, after he turns and leaves, first class guy reclines it again.

The first flight attendant returns and asks him to do it one more time and this time in a little bit more stern of a voice, to which he does. For the third time, once the flight attendant turns to walk away, the guy reclined seat. Again.

By this time, the first and main flight attendant is in her jump seat by the cockpit when a third flight attendant from the rear of the plane, brings something up to the front. The third flight attendant notices the seat is reclined and for the fourth time the guy is asked to return his seat to the fully upright position.

I know, judging a book by its cover is probably not a nice thing to do, but just based on this behavior and how the guy handled himself, I pegged him to be a first class a-hole.

A couple of notes:

  • Delta doesn’t have a bulkhead or other real divider between first class and economy on some of its aircraft, so if you are sitting in the last row of First Class, you do recline into Comfort+ (Delta’s extra-legroom economy class seat)
  • I’ve seen people like this personally, though never anyone “caught” four times by flight attendants onboard; usually, they are asked to put their seat up, the flight attendant sits down, then they put their seat back down before takeoff

It’s a fair question to ask whether someone like this should be removed. I know a lot of flight attendants read this blog and would welcome feedback on how you would handle such passengers.

I get being asked once and perhaps even twice, but three times, then four times? By his actions, the passenger suggests that he will not follow crewmember instructions. That’s a big red flag.

We do not recline our seats during taxi and takeoff because if an emergency evacuation is required, we want to make egress as easy as possible…lives could depend on it.

I think the third time should have come with a warning that if there was a fourth time, the plane would return to the gate and offload him.

What do you think?


image: Delta A321-200 interior

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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22 Comments

  1. Dave Edwards Reply
    April 4, 2025 at 9:56 am

    Throw the ahole off immediately for failure to follow instructions. I still see flying as a privilege, not a right and I’m in someone else’s house so I follow their rules.

    On a side note I’m 100% in favor of removing the ability for all seats to recline. It’s unnecessary and causes more problems than it’s worth. Today’s planes just don’t have enough room between rows for the practice. Believe it or not, I never recline out of consideration for the person behind me. And I’m the type who doesn’t care about others most of the time.

    • Opposite of Dave Edwards Reply
      April 5, 2025 at 2:23 am

      Re: “ I’m the type who doesn’t care about others”, good to see Duochebag Dave Edwards write an honest accurate comment for a change. It’s actually completely unbelievable that Douchebag Dave Edwards would do anything out of consideration for anyone other than himself or herself. In fact, the subject of this post who reclined his seat four different times, is probably none other than Douchebag Dave Edwards him or herself.

    • emercycrite Reply
      April 5, 2025 at 6:09 am

      Dave is absolutely spot on.

  2. Maryland Reply
    April 4, 2025 at 10:15 am

    Four reprimands is more than enough to be removed. It is a safety issue, and lack of respect and cooperation signal the passenger is not prepared to travel.

  3. John Reply
    April 4, 2025 at 10:18 am

    I would give a warning the second time he did it that if he did it again he would be removed from the flight. This person was acting like an entitled jerk.

  4. DCAWABN Reply
    April 4, 2025 at 10:20 am

    I’ve been the author of that post a couple of times, too – including last night on a DL 717. The kicker is that there’s plenty of room for the C+ pax right behind. In fact, there’s more legroom for that row (10) than there actually is for F. But it’s the fact that this douchecanoe thinks he’s above the rules. He wasn’t actually encroaching on anyone space, but as the author mentions, people of this mindset are probably a hassle in nearly every other aspect of their lives and could likely use some comeuppance. We often complain about FAs on power trips, but sometimes it’s warranted. Imagine if there’d been an emergency, this is the type of guy that would get people killed because he just HAS to take his carryon with him because he’s special. Boot him off the plane!

  5. D3Kingg Reply
    April 4, 2025 at 10:36 am

    I never wear my seatbelt except for takeoff and landing. If the turbulence is moderate enough I will fasten my seatbelt in my sleep on a long haul flight.

    Unless you pulled an all nighter in Miami and the drugs haven’t worn off yet ; some people need to be told more than once. OBJ got kicked off American once because he didn’t follow the FA’s instructions to fasten his seatbelt and they were concerned about his non responsiveness. What kind of service is that ? Give him a cup of coffee or a memosa to perk up.

  6. jcil Reply
    April 4, 2025 at 11:24 am

    Your woke readers need more information before they can render an equitable opinion.

    • John Reply
      April 4, 2025 at 12:23 pm

      how much do you want to bet the a-hole who didn’t follow instructions is a MAGA? I’d say 99.9999%

      • dee Reply
        April 4, 2025 at 11:01 pm

        doubt it probably a TDS or EDS!!!the anger and hate of the left

    • D3Kingg Reply
      April 4, 2025 at 2:55 pm

      The thought police have arrived.

  7. Ricport Reply
    April 4, 2025 at 11:40 am

    Reclining seats are relics from the golden age of flying, when there was actually space to recline without severely impacting the person behind you. The airlines have gotten rid of free bags, they’ve gotten rid of free hot meals in Y, and now it’s way past time to get rid of reclining seats. You want more room? Pay to fly in Y+ or F. It’s an airplane; not a barcalounger.

    And as far as the a-hole (which he was), I think there should be some mechanism for situations that don’t quite rise to the level of turning the plane around to deal with people like him. How about cancel his return leg (if he’s on an outbound leg), cancel all FF miles in his account, and ban him for 6 months? Sounds like a reasonable penalty for entitled, spoiled man-children like this pax.

  8. Lukas Reply
    April 4, 2025 at 12:02 pm

    3rd time is the charm so after getting warned twice, I’d remove him because he is clearly not capable of following crew members instructions.

  9. Dave W. Reply
    April 4, 2025 at 12:37 pm

    The key is, at some point, he should have been given a “keep it upright or you’re out of here.” But, since it involved multiple FAs, he succeeded. I’d like the FAs to have an ability to “rate” pax. This guy gets a demerit. If he was a status upgrade, guess what, for the next year he’s moved toward the bottom of the upgrade list. Sadly, this gives feul to the anti-recline (i.e., the pro-bad-back) crowd.

  10. derek Reply
    April 4, 2025 at 12:51 pm

    This would be avoided if there were a permanent and national database on passengers who received warnings or any kind of disciplinary action. Kind of Nazi, though.

  11. David Miller Reply
    April 4, 2025 at 3:12 pm

    There always seems to be an ass hole on every flight.

  12. Mfl Reply
    April 4, 2025 at 3:53 pm

    Complete ahole ….the third time the pilot should be notified and the plane should have returned to the gate. I agree with other posters that this person should be put on a no fly list for CONSTANTLY ignoring flight attendant. This happens a couple more times and I guarantee people will stop doing this stupid and rude action.

  13. Jerry Reply
    April 4, 2025 at 4:17 pm

    Has the comment section on LALF cleaned itself up a little bit? I feel like a few months ago I’d have seen comments like “OMG why was Tim Dunn in the last row of F”, or OMG “Did Santastico’s upgrade clear?!”

    PS, I don’t mean any actual shade, I just feel like some low hanging fruit was left on the tree.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      April 4, 2025 at 4:54 pm

      I miss Santastico…I think one day he will see that I was right about Agent Orange.

  14. Christian Reply
    April 5, 2025 at 2:01 am

    I think kicking the guy off the flight and gifting him a few years membership on a shared between airlines No-Fly list for all flights beginning or ending in the USA would likely cause him and similar types to reconsider acting this way in the future.

  15. emercycrite Reply
    April 5, 2025 at 6:10 am

    Yet another argument for summary execution.

  16. Skyhoosier Reply
    April 6, 2025 at 11:03 am

    An additional reason for upright seats for takeoff and landing, is that in an “impact landing” the possibility of spinal injury is greatly increased if not sitting in an upright position. FAs were not just protecting those in the row behind in the event of an evacuation, but also protecting that passenger from potential injury.

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