Yesterday, Ellen DeGeneres used her opening monologue to defend seat reclining. Specifically, she defended the American Airlines passenger who filmed the man behind her punching her seat. Her “Recline To One Another” motto is one that we should all live by.
I’m not one who generally looks to celebrities for wisdom, but it is noteworthy that such a high-profile public figure has weighed in on the seat recline debate and sided with the passenger. Here’s what she had to say:
Key quotes:
“I can’t believe anybody is taking the man’s side. Because to me, the only only time it’s ever okay to punch someone’s seat is if the seat punches you first. Then I think you can punch the seat back.”
“It’s the first clue you are doing something you shouldn’t be doing is if someone pulls out a phone and starts recording you for evidence. At that point, you know you’re going to be a YouTube star and not the kind where you make $1 million for opening toys.”
“Airlines seats are made to recline. She has a right to recline her chair. And I get it: there’s not a lot of legroom. You’re frustrated. You’re hot because of the beard. But you’re also an adult and you have to act like an adult. You’re on a plane. Don’t pick on her like a third grader punching the back of a seat. I can’t believe anybody would think that’s okay.”
She concludes with a twist on her signature “Be kind to one another” quote, modifying it to “recline to one another.”
It’s important this issue has been raised across more mainstream media outlets this week because there is still a silly misnomer that your seat recline button is a decoration. It is not: it is indeed meant to be used. Once expectations are correctly managed, less air rage will result.
There’s incremental slow reclining and then there’s slamming back. On a recent AA flight in economy, the young male in the seat in front of me slammed back so fast it knocked over the plastic cup of sparkling water on my tray table. I gave his seat a shove and uttered “Thanks a lot.” He turned around with a clueless look on his face. I expected him to say something like “What the f**k dude” but he stayed silent. I’m just glad I opted for water rather than tomato juice!
Agreed. I’ve always said it is unacceptable to rapidly recline. I have literally almost suffered two broken laptops as a result.
I had someone pop the bezel off my laptop screen (luckily I put my hand up before they cracked the actual LCD) because the seat clamped down on my laptop on their way down, and they felt resistance, and they just pushed harder instead of turning around to see what was going on.
Yeah, I have a feeling that (as usual) Ellen oversimplified what happened here and came up on the wrong side (also as usual). We obviously can’t see the entire exchange that occurred on the flight in question but (based on personal experience), I’d bet big $$ that the woman slammed her seat back without a care in the world as to whether anyone was behind her. Because it’s HER seat and SHE is the princess. Thus, the guy was pissed off.
Had he been Attila the Hun from the start, the FA wouldn’t have treated him to a consolation drink. No, the FA would have had him met by authorities at the gate. Sorry Ellen, but I am on his side. Even if I don’t think he handled this correctly, I understand the frustration he must have been dealing with.
Sounds to me that your opinion is based on assumptions. You can bet all the big $$ you want, but until anyone involved in this gives us those details we won’t know for sure. If she did in fact slam her seat back it would be totally unacceptable. It has happened to all of us who fly regularly and it is incredibly irritating. However, punching that seat repeatedly is at least equally irritating and unacceptable. And I agree with Ellen, that this displays behaviour of a child, whereas slamming your seat back without care is simply being an inconsiderate idiot.
Nice try, bearded seat puncher.
There’s a few guidelines about reclining a seat on a plane. Many understand these, but it seems there are still some that need a refresher.
1) don’t recline without asking the person that you’ll be infringing on their personal space.
2) don’t even think of reclining on a big/ tall person behind you.
3) upon asking to recline, if the person says that it’s not ok to recline, DON’T DO IT!
4)If for some reason, you want to recline after you were told that it would not be ok, then remember Newton’s 3rd law of physics. “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”
I’ll also add that seats directly in front of me are never actually able to recline. The few times that I’ve had someone attempt to recline in front of me, they simply could not recline.
I’ll also add that reclining never used to be an issue until the airlines reduced the space that we are given by a considerable amount in 2016.
You’d hate to sit behind me, Tom.
Lol. Guidelines unilaterally decided by you. You tried to look wise, yet ended up looking idiot.
Your guidelines favour tall/big person. Not fair.
You are either hypocrite or simply selfish brat.
Or just a loudmouth….
Those two must have been traveling together…there’s no way someone does that for that long without police getting involved. She wanted miles from AA and he wanted a free drink.
In Economy I typically only recline if someone has reclined into me
I think both parties acted like jerks. The passenger should have the common sense not to recline when the plane is full and you’re at the back of the bus. It’s claustrophobic enough w/o the recline. When flying in regular coach (i.e. not premium economy or business class), I make it a point not to recline because I have sympathy for the people behind me—something this woman did not have.
That said, the guy should not be punching seat backs either. I think Ellen called this one wrong as both parties are to blame here.
+1
@Matthew – I’m not sure that your choice here is the best. For starters, picking a one sided perspective doesn’t really prove anything except for trying too hard to skew in one direction on your blog. Even if you did pick a one sided perspective, I’m not sure that a comedian is really a great yardstick for societal norms. Even if by some chance the comedian actually IS the correct yardstick, picking a famous one who likely has her own private jet and sure as hell hasn’t flown economy in decades makes Ellen an exceedingly poor choice. Her take smacks of paternalism.
I guess I understand your conclusion, but not the reasoning that led up to it. Furthermore, I just don’t understand what this woman did wrong, if she waited to recline until after the man finished his food and drink.
On the conclusion, it’d be like Michael Bloomberg telling people how to buy groceries. As to the woman, I was absolutely on her side until she decided to go the FBI route. This despite the possibility that we’re only seeing one side of this. Maybe I’m wrong, but the possibility certainly exists. Given the way things seem, I think both parties are in the wrong.
Lol. So many entitled snowflakes here. If the the seat is able to recline, whoever sit there have the rights to use it.
Just because you felt uncomfortable due to your height or size doesn’t take the rights of passenger in front of you.
If for whatever reason you don’t want or don’t like the seat in front reclines either slowly or suddenly, get a business class.
Yes, poor people have less right specially with regards to comfort compared to the rich. Stop complaining and whining. Work harder and smarter.
Loudmouth snowflakes growing in number these days… Hahahaha.
Seat recliners on a short domestic flight? Suggests a certain arrogance and indifference to the comfort of others. Of course he shouldn’t punch her seat…but she’s no victim…on her phone in a flash rather than seeking the assistance of the FA to resolve the problem.
As for Ellen…I think she’s a decent person…but she always comes up with this homespun ,Mother Earth , perfect world stuff.
Apparently if the seat reclines the person is entitled (by most of the opinion setters on this blog) to recline it anytime at all as long as they make the pretence of asking for permission for the person behind, even if that person disagrees.
So does that same “right” apply to the fact a tray table is provided for every seat, so surely there is an equal “right” to be able to use the tray table for its intended purpose, which is to eat your meal, or even watch some video on your laptop or tablet. But apparently the right of the person reclines trumps your ability to do anything except to recline your own seat, into a fairly uncomfortable position.
Sounds like a lot of hooey to me. Especially for a day-time domestic flight where most people don’t want to recline, but a few seem determined to exercise their “rights”.