If they have their seat reclined, I hip-check on purpose and with a little bit extra. The spaces are too tight anymore to put seats back. I really wish the airlines would make all seats fixed upright.
I am embarrassed by some of the responses.
Now when we fly, we try to go first class, but when we were younger and the DH worked for an airline, we often flew non-rev, which meant we were likely split up and scattered around the plane. If I found myself crowded in the middle, I would heave a couple of heavy sighs and wordlessly take the air sickness bag out of the pocket in front of me.
Instantly both armrests were mine and I had all the room I needed.
seems like a lot of selfish people are flying these days. this is a major reason why we don't fly.
That's also the central tenet of the rules here.This whole etiquette thing can be boiled down to one rule: Don't be a d!ck.
This is a lesson I learned on a submarine, where 120 people were crammed, for several months, into a 33 ft diameter, 380 foot long cylinder (a little over twice the diameter and length of a Boeing 757), along with a nuclear reactor, steam propulsion and power generation plant, 16 giant nuclear tipped ballistic missiles, a bunch of torpedoes, sonar, radio, etc., and all the auxiliary electronic and mechanical systems to support those things. There simply is no such thing as privacy or personal space when you are in that situation. Everyone needs to have an easy disposition and a polite demeanor in order to make it work.
Today, the average male weighs 200 pounds. When I first started flying, the average male weighed about 170 pounds, and the planes were more spacious. Sounds great until you remember that smoking was allowed on airplanes, and the average guy smoked.
It's always something.
I've had acquaintances boast about their online certification of "support dogs" that were mere pets. I love my dog, but I'd never expect others to share space with him on a flight. More than once, I've listened to a whining dog in the first class cabin, when I had paid for a full price ticket. And, what about folks with dog allergies, don't they count? I'd vote for no pets unless legitimate service dogs.
I'd like to know the math behind wider seats, more legroom in economy. Even if they raised the price of the ticket. My idea is: travelers should be able to choose airlines based on seat size/ticket price. Service not considered. Just comfort. I'll take comfort over service on domestic flights. I can bring my own sandwich and drink.
You already can, to an extent, choose based on comfort/price. For our last trip out to Yellowstone and for our upcoming trip to Florida, I paid an upgrade charge to get the premium economy seats, which have more legroom (although the seat width is the same). You can view the layout on most flights for most airlines by looking at seatguru.com There are also charts to compare the airlines.
+1@GumbyThat's also the central tenet of the rules here.
Regarding air travel - when a large number of people are crammed into a small space for hours at a time, you should go out of your way to be nice and get along with them.
This is a lesson I learned on a submarine, where 120 people were crammed, for several months, into a 33 ft diameter, 380 foot long cylinder (a little over twice the diameter and length of a Boeing 757), along with a nuclear reactor, steam propulsion and power generation plant, 16 giant nuclear tipped ballistic missiles, a bunch of torpedoes, sonar, radio, etc., and all the auxiliary electronic and mechanical systems to support those things. There simply is no such thing as privacy or personal space when you are in that situation. Everyone needs to have an easy disposition and a polite demeanor in order to make it work.
The 1958 flight to Paris cost economy-class passengers $489.60, or about $4,350 today.
Airlines have given the public (as a whole) what it wants - the cheapest flights from A to B. This is an interesting recent article in the NY Times about the first Pan Am jet flight on a Boeing 707 from NYC to Paris.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/26/us/pan-am-travel.html
"The 1958 flight to Paris cost economy-class passengers $489.60, or about $4,350 today."
There may be a backlash by people like Rianne and me who are willing to pay more for comfort, but most people just want cheap.
You already can, to an extent, choose based on comfort/price. For our last trip out to Yellowstone and for our upcoming trip to Florida, I paid an upgrade charge to get the premium economy seats, which have more legroom (although the seat width is the same). You can view the layout on most flights for most airlines by looking at seatguru.com There are also charts to compare the airlines.
I love those seats--great compromise imo between coach and business. We're in them for London at the end of November; we've been able to sleep well in them with the footrests extended.
if it were up to me i’d eliminate all overhead carry-on luggage bins except for coats, hats and such. otherwise if it doesn’t fit under your seat it gets checked. increase the fines and penalties to the airlines for lost or misdirected luggage. a lot of stress seems to be caused by overhead storage....Airplane travel just sucks if you have sit in the back. Coming back from our last trip, my DW got a nice egg on top of her skull when some idiot dropped their bigass bag on her head when they were trying to crush it into the overhead bin.
and while i’m at it the only animals allowed in the cabin are either certified dogs assisting the blind or other actual physically disabled persons or animals small enough to fit in a crate that small enough to fit under the seat. no more comfort peacocks, pot bellied pigs, mini horses, etc.