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Avoiding seat kickers

May 18, 2000

Q: I had a horrendous experience on a Virgin Atlantic flight. A traveler forcefully kicked the back of my chair when I reclined. How could I have prevented that from happening?

– Maura Kayal

A: I’ve only heard of this being a problem in economy class, and it’s a result of the airline seats being installed too close together. Like most transatlantic carriers, the space between Virgin’s steerage seats – also called “pitch” in the travel business – is around 32 inches.

Passengers who are more than 5 feet, 7 inches tall will find 32 inches of pitch insufficient. Their knees will meet the seat in front of them. On a long enough flight, the rubbing and chafing will become so annoying that an irate traveler may indeed respond to further legroom shrinkage in a violent way.

Richard Branson, the top dog at Virgin, knows his cheap seats are less than comfortable. How can I be so sure? Because he’s been sighted sitting in his own economy class seats (I’ve actually spoken with several eyewitnesses). Pity the airline CEOs who haven’t a clue. And check out the chart (below) if you’re interested in the sad details of their ignorance.

Seat “kickers” come in several varieties:

– Playful babies. You know, the ones that use their tray table as a drum set. They’re very aggravating, but given a kid’s attention span, the annoyance is usually short-lived.

– Pushy passengers. They hardly say a thing when you lean back, until they shift around – and realize they’re wedged in. That’s when they start kneeing you in the back at predictable intervals.

– Stealth fighters. These passengers immediately know they’ve lost several inches of personal space, but use a variety of tactics – including loud “ahems,” nudges and pulls – to encourage you to rescind your claim.

– Fourth-and-long. Chances are, you had a “run in” with one of these. The moment you lean back, they whack you in the derriere. Usually, it’s only kids, retirees and drunks that are this aggressive.

How do you not become a victim of a kicker? Well, I’d try securing a better seat, either in business class or against the back of the plane or against a bulkhead. If that’s not possible, you might have to forfeit that nap – yes, don’t lean back – in the interests of preserving the peace.

In any event, try asking the passenger behind you before leaning back. If the answer is no, and if there are no other seats on the aircraft, go to a flight attendant for help. It’s their job to keep you, the passenger, safe.

And being booted in the back by another traveler isn’t my idea of a safe – or pleasant – flight.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

3 comments

  • daniel sachs

    This article is written from entirely the wrong perspective–that of the seat recliner. It should have been written from the perspective of the person in the seat behind him, whose already-cramped legroom is now to be further confined by the person sitting in front of him. Ever heard the maxim, “Your right to swing your arm ends where my nose begins?” The same is true on an airplane–your right to recline ends where my kneecaps begin.
    What do I do? I push back–forcefully! Over and over, until he/she gets the message!

  • Alice

    Well, I’ve had my seat kicked before on flights even when I didn’t recline my seat. I usually don’t recline the seat because I know how difficult it is to have the person in front of you do so. Though deciding that kicking the seat in front of you at any time is pretty inexcusable. Why not try asking first, making a little joke about how you could do dental work on them. At least give the recliner a chance to be the ‘good guy’ before deciding to act like a child.

  • kiki d

    i try to fly as little as possible, but i live on an island, so sometimes it’s impossible to avoid. i was recently flying from hawaii to san diego, and about an hour into the flight, the woman behind me kicked the back of my seat. i turned around and she gave me what we commonly refer to here as “stink eye”. not having any idea what i did, i turned back around. about 10 minutes later, she landed another kick into my seat, so i turned around again and said, “is there a problem?” she said, “could you not recline your seat? i don’t have enough leg room.” i looked at her a minute and said, “well, this plane must be even more cramped than usual because i never reclined my seat.” i never heard another peep from her, but i think people are boarding the plane with an automatic territorial defensive attitude. i never recline my seat because i’m only 5’6″ and uncomfortable no matter what position my seat is in, so i take the attitude “why inflict myself on the other passengers?” unfortunately, while polite passengers are more common than rude, it’s the rude ones that have figured out that whole squeaky wheel thing.

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