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
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
Your woke readers need more information before they can render an equitable opinion.
how much do you want to bet the a-hole who didn’t follow instructions is a MAGA? I’d say 99.9999%
The thought police have arrived.
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.
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.
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.
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.
There always seems to be an ass hole on every flight.
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.
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.
I miss Santastico…I think one day he will see that I was right about Agent Orange.