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Personal Space
Ask Chris · May 25, 2000

Last week's column about seat kickers drew lots of comments from readers. So this week, our answer guy returns to the issue of personal space on planes:

Q: I take issue with your article about seat kickers. I am retired and am 6 feet 4 inches tall. I resent some Neanderthal, insensitive clod throwing back his seat into my lap. I also take issue with your placing those of us who protest into the category of bratty kids, drunks and aggressive retirees.

I have a right to what little space is allotted without the intrusion of precious adorable darlings, drunks - whomever. I do not intrude upon the person behind me and I do not want the clod in front of me thinking it's OK for him to relax at my expense.

My last experience was with a moron that threw his seat back which left me with so little room that I was unable to open a newspaper to read. However, he was comfortable it seems in as much as he was at an exit seat with plenty of leg room and than he took the liberty of using much of my space.

What's the solution? Fix the seats so they don't recline and let the devil take the hind most. I pay for my space and do not intend to give up much of it for the comfort of some ill-mannered brat, a selfish clod, drunk or otherwise, without a vigorous protest. It doesn't do me much good but at least I get my message out about what I think of the jerks.

-- William Hobbs

A: I agree with you, William. The seats shouldn't recline.

Q: I hate to admit it, but with a 31 inch seat pitch, I'm a chair kicker. I think with a 31 inch pitch, it's rude to recline your chair. At 31 inches, the chairs should not recline. I always thank the person in front of me at the end of a flight when they haven't reclined their chair.

There's a big difference between 31 inches and 32 inches [in economy class]. And whenever one is fortunate to get 33 inches, it borders on being comfortable.

If a plane has (on average) 150 seats and they take out two rows (12 seats), that's a reduction of 8 percent. If an airline has 12 or more seats empty on half their flights, they are not losing any income on the two rows removed half the time. So a ballpark figure is that an airline would lose about 4 percent of its ticket revenue by taking out the two rows and going to a 33 inch pitch (which is reasonably comfortable). It also reduces stress on the flight crew, reduces fights over carryon space, and makes rest room lines shorter.

A price increase of 4 percent or more would cover this reduction. I think most people would be willing to pay this for the comfort and reduced stress.

-- Squeezed

A: I wish we were all willing to pay a little more for bigger seats. But time and again, airline customer surveys show that price, not comfort, is the deciding factor a plane ticket is purchased.

Q: I would like to know who legally owns the vertical space of the seat I am in - me or the person in front of me? When someone reclines their seat, I cannot open my laptop on my tray [table]. Do I have a right to work on my laptop or does the person in front of me have the right to sleep and prevent me from working?

Right now it seems as though the recliners have the rights and the workers are out of luck. What are our choices if someone reclines into our workspace?

-- Virginia Dudley

A: I've spoken with several flight attendants about this, and there doesn't seem to be a set answer. Most conflicts involving seat space get settled without the intervention of the flight crew. Put differently, the more insistent passenger usually gets his or her way.

Q: The question I've never been able to get answered about the seat kickers is this one: Does the person behind you have a right to demand that you not put your seat back? Whose space is it anyway? And if the space does belong to the people who are doing the reclining, what should those people do if the people behind them persist with the kicking? Ask a flight attendant to intervene?

-- Ron Lieber

A: I thought I just answered that question. ;-) You do bring up another interesting point: When is it appropriate to call a flight attendant? I think if you've reached an impasse with the seat "leaner" and there's no solution in sight, I'd hit the "call" button. But a word of caution: There's only so much a crewmember can do. Since there are no hard-and-fast rules regarding space ownership (see previous question) the flight attendants really can't force a solution on anyone.

Q: I resent your slur on retirees. Most of us are much more polite than those younger whippersnappers who get on the plane and pull out a cell phone while still on the ground, and then try to impress us with their laptops. And their seat full of briefcases and satchels, etc. Having more legroom, they fill the space on the floor with their junk.

-- Name Withheld

A: Sorry about that.

Christopher Elliott is a travel commentator and author of A Bridge to Nowhere: A Year in the Florida Keys. All e-mailed questions may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion. Ask Chris appears weekly on this site.