Q: We booked a flight from Raleigh/Durham to Manchester, England via Toronto on Air Canada recently. On the flight from Toronto to England we were given two seats across from the toilets.
When it came time to put the seats back so we could sleep, they wouldn’t recline. We spent more than seven hours sitting straight up with the seats belonging to those in front of us practically in our laps. We had just a few inches where we could get out of the seat.
I got a bruise on my legs from hitting the armrest, and my friend got restless-leg syndrome from having to keep her feet and legs in one position all the time. She had to keep getting up and standing in the aisle to get her legs to function.
Apart from this, when the bathroom was occupied, people just stood near us and chatted and laughed while they waited for the bathroom to be available. Or, if there was no one waiting, they slammed the bathroom door as they came out.
I wrote to the consumer department of Air Canada and spelled all this out to them about a month ago but I have yet to hear from them. Do I have any recourse?
– Wynne McKay
A: Under most circumstances, you wouldn’t. Air Canada met its end of the deal – it transported you from Raleigh/Durham to Manchester, England. If you take a look at your contract of carriage, it doesn’t mention anything about getting you from point “A” to point “B” comfortably.
But we’re talking about Air Canada here, which unlike certain air carriers south of the border, does seem to care what customers think. So when I called John Reber, a spokesman for the airline, and told him about the seats that wouldn’t recline, he promised to look into the issue.
Apparently, you had booked your ticket separately from your companion. When you asked to sit together, the only two remaining seats were torture-chamber chairs you ended up in. These are without a doubt the worst seats on the plane. They’re locked upright because they’re in front of an emergency exit row, and they’re close to a restroom.
If you ask me, I’d rather ride in the cargo hold than sit in them.
Air Canada apologized for your seating arrangements. A representative explained to you that the only reason you got those seats is that you wanted to be together – otherwise the seats would have flown empty. After I made an inquiry, you received a call from a customer representative who gave you her home phone number and told you to call her anytime you decided to fly Air Canada again, and that she would make sure you had a good seat assignment.
As a make-good, the airline sent you and your friend each a gift basket.
I think the airline needs to go beyond the apology, though. Air Canada should either remove these uncomfortable seats or find a way to fix them. I have a feeling you’re not the first passengers to complain about the seats, nor will you be the last.
What could you have done to prevent this from happening? No one expects you to know which seats recline on a plane and which ones don’t. You would assume that they all do. But a knowledgeable travel agent should know which seats work. Next time, consider booking your airline tickets through a competent travel counselor.
Also, ask at the gate if your seats are good. Gate agents know if you’re in a bad seat, and they should tell you. Ask if your seat reclines. Ask how much legroom it’s got. And ask how close to the bathroom you are. Finally, find out from the gate agent if he or she would sit in the seat. If the answer is “no” then ask for a different seat.
✓ Get the latest travel news, tips and commentary from Elliott’s E-Mail, the subversive newsletter from industry gadfly Christopher Elliott. You’ll travel like a pro. Sign up here. It’s free.
Sign up for my 
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Personally, I don’t mind non-reclining seats (though never on a long international flight!) The first time I flew in them, the two passengers next to me both opted to find better seats–luckily it was one of the rare flights these days that isn’t overbooked–and the next time I purposely tried for them again and slyly convinced the people next to me that there were probably better, reclining seats somewhere else. The result? Two flights where I stretch out across three beautiful seats with no rude, snoring, loud, or otherwise obnoxious travel companions.
I always use seat geru when requesting seats. This service allows you to see which seats don’t recline et al.
Just to add to James’ comment, the site is seatguru.com. You will see comments like “Review: Seat 29 A,B has 31 inch seat pitch, which is one less inch than seats in the front of the plane. This seat also has limited recline and will be noisy due to the proximity of the lavatories and galley.”
You’ll also note that many of Air Canada’s seats are an impressively narrow 17″
Northwest Airlines owns a plane (Saab 340) which actually has 16″ wide seats anda 30″ pitch. And yes, this plane is intended to transport adults. In addition to being exceptionally narrow and close together, row 11 on this plane not only doesn’t recline but it doesn’t even have an aisle.
I’m sorry Chris but I don’t understand what you mean by “fix” the seats. The seats are locked in an upright position because they’re in front of an exit row – if the seats reclined then during an emergency they’d impede exiting the airplane. There’s nothing to “fix”.
The problem, to my way of thinking, is seats that recline too far back leaving the people behind them with very little space. Ever tried to work on a flight only to have your work area disappear when the seat in front of you was reclined? People have had laptops damaged this way, and many long-legged people have suffered from having the seatback suddenly dropped onto their knees.
Go to seatguru.com and you will find seat diagram plus which seats are good and which ones are not so good. Take a look before you book your next flight.