What is proper seat position etiquette in economy class?

Depending on the hour, I try not to lean back my seat at the start of the flight when people are settling in and food & drinks are being served. Also, I like to ease back my seat rather than SLAM it back into the person behind me. Nice to see someone asking about etiquette, it's just a few louts that cause most of the annoyances on some flights.

Thomas - I'm with you, I just feel like my personal space is invaded when the seat in front of me is reclined. I also don't recline my seat out of courtesy to the person behind me. I'm sure we're in the minority however.

I recline my seat a little bit as soon as we're allowed to, and then when the lights go down I recline it most of the way. It's difficult enough for me to sleep on the plane without stretching my legs, so I need a reclined seat. If the person behind me complains (which I don't think has ever happened), I would move the seat upright a little. If the person in front of me is really limiting my space, I will ask them to move their seat a little. As long as people ask politely (in a perfect world, right?), we should all be able to accommodate each other.

i recline my seat when i'm ready to settle in. i don't see the need to make myself less comfortable for 9+ hours because someone MIGHT be bothered by me using my seat within its accepted parameters. it doesn't bother me in the least when someone reclines their seat in front of me. i'm over 6-foot tall as well. the real issues are the people taking up more than their fair share of real estate, e.g. the folks whose bulk annexes your rights to the shared armrest and then some.

Of course it is your right to recline the seat as far as it will go whenever you want to. When you do that, however, you infringe on the right of the person behind you to the space s/he paid for. That can be a big problem if that person's knees are already against the back of your seat or if the person wants to leave their seat. If you are sitting in front of me and choose to exercise to recline that seat all the way don't be surprised if it seems to be malfunctioning.

I like Thomas's and Grier's consideration for others and I hope I'm always seated behind people like them.

Airlines have reclining seats installed on their planes because passengers want them for comfort. My observation is that the large majority of people, particularly on long flights, recline as the seats are intended to do. I do because my back bothers me otherwise and I wouldn't be able to sleep. At meal times I put the seat back up, though, out of respect for the person seated behind who no doubt has raised his own and needs the space.

A great question! The obvious - you have the right to use your seat the way it was designed. Not so obvious (to some) - remember there is a person behind you. Especially around food service time it is common courtesy to be mindful that the person behind you is trying to eat, too, and may not finish when you do. I don't recline my seat because I know what it's like to "perform dental work" on my fellow passenger in front. And, if the person ahead wants to recline all the way back, I am not going to go to any great lengths not to disturb them if I have to get up - what's good for the goose is good for the gander.

I have to admit, I have never thought twice about reclining my seat. And I also have to admit, I am a shortie. I have always felt those 3 inches of recline were intended to make the flight more comfortable. If I don't - my back and my butt hurt after a few hours. If I am on a short flight - I probably won't. But a long flight, like a 8 or 9 hour flight...I have too if I want to get any form of sleep or have any feeling left in my 'cheeks'. Now if I do have a 6+ foot tall person behind me and they ask me politely - I would do my best to help them and me be comfortable. And of course, I always put my seat up at mealtime - but the airline kinda tells you to.

Thomas, Good question! I tend to be reluctant to recline my seat all the way, as I'm conscious that there's someone behind me who may be trying to eat, use the tray for something or whatever. If I'm planning to "snooze" for a few minutes, I will gently recline it a few notches. It really annoys me when the person in front "slams" their seat back with the speed of an ejection seat, simply because "they can". I consider that to be boorish and inconsiderate "airline etiquette"! It's even worse if the individual falls asleep and proceeds to snore like a Chainsaw!!!

i like implication that the person using their seat as it is intended is the rude one, while the person incensed by same is perfectly innocent of offense when trying to impose their will on those in front of them. also, please let me know which airlines have these great seats in coach that lean back so far as to lay your head in someone's lap for a dental exam. maybe i can finally get some quality sleep on the plane.

On my last flight to France (October this year) the flight attendants asked that everyone move their seat to an upright position when they were serving the meals. I thought this was great. It sure made it easier to eat, drink, and I'm sure for them to serve the meals. This was the first time I've experienced this request. It was on a Lufthansa flight out of Munich. I always recline my seat as soon as I'm able. Sitting straight up is way to much strain on the back. Economy seats don't recline much in any case, but any release for the muscles are needed. I recline my seat in my car it's not straight up when I drive, too uncomfortable. It is your right to recline your seat, use it if you need. If you are concerned for the person behind you, that's great, your parents taught you well - you are considerate and think of others.

"On my last flight to France (October this year) the flight attendants asked that everyone move their seat to an upright position when they were serving the meals. I thought this was great. It sure made it easier to eat, drink, and I'm sure for them to serve the meals." seems reasonable.

Matthew - the dental exam was a joke. But on a flight from Munich to Dulles one year on (I believe BA), the seats really did recline to the point that my wife was almost trapped in her seat. The worst part was that when the person in front of her finished eating - FWAM!! went the seat back and put my wife's meal in her lap. To top it off, when my wife needed to get up, she had to use the seat back in front to pull herself up, and the passenger had the nerve to growl at her, saying she was disturbing her sleep! That's all I am saying. Yes - you paid for your seat and you have every right to use the seat as designed. Oh, and another thing...I am not that Steve....

A right within reason... I always recline just a bit. I look around first at the person behind me to see what they're doing (using a laptop, using the tray as a pillow, sleeping, etc.). They are almost always 'lights out' sleeping, so I just ease the seat back a bit. And I often move it up for a meal service, not that I see that many meals... All seats aren't equal - some are in better shape than others, for sure! Some recline (aka flop) WAY more than normal, and I think some previous posters have experienced those... If I'm flying that 374 hour (or so) flight from California to Europe, that seatback is going back as far as I can get it. I won't pin the person behind me in their seat literally, but that's way too long of a flight to sit bolt upright for me. {{And all of those people sleeping blissfully as I pace up and down the aisles? I carry rubberbands...THWACK! ;-) }}

I also rarely recline my seat. I never recline my seat during a daytime flight but will occasionally recline when all around me are resting on overnight flights. While I hate it when the seat in front of my is reclined, I never ask the person in front of me to pull it forward as I figure as long as airlines make seats that recline, then people have the right to use them in that manner. There are two things that I wish the recliners would do though: 1) Recline slowly. It is rather painful to have a seatback slammed into your knees. Give the person behind you time to adjust as the seat is coming back. On my last trans-atlantic flight, the guy in front of me slammed back his seat about 20 seconds after takeoff. It was totally unexpected (usually people wait until the plane is at least level) and I had bruises on my knees as I had no chance to adjust my position. 2) Keep your seat upright during the meal service and hold off reclining until the dirty food trays have been collected. I appreciate it when flight attendants ask people to pull their seats up while meals are being served.

I recline during sleep time but keep it upright during meal times.

I recline my seat halfway, but no more, on long flights so I can get some sleep. I have observed that a lot of other people do the same; not many recline the whole distance, but there are always a few. I have only experienced that with the row in front of me a couple of times. When that happens, it does not bother me, but for some reason it causes me to have to get up two or three times an hour, pressing hard on the seat back as I work my way toward the aisle.

I no longer recline my seat. I used to, but realized that I had no right to give the people in front of me dirty looks when they did it if I was infringing on the people behind me. I'm pretty short, so I can't honestly say that by reclining my seat, I am able to stretch out that much more.

"Do unto others as you would they do unto you". Unfortunately that is not the practice on planes- "do unto others before they do it unto you"

I almost never recline because I am often (depends upon seat/plane type) unable to allow those in front of me to recline. I am tall and my knees are already wedged into the seat back. I'd like to recline myself, but it would not be right since I am denying someone that same opportunity. To the occasional person who is annoyed with me I explain that my height was not my choice. Strangely, that never helps. When they call the flight attendant, I just smile. "I am sorry ma'am," says the FA, "the flight is full, I don't have anywhere to move you." Sorry ladies, only women seem to complain and miss the geometric problem. On the occasional first class upgrade, I recline as soon as airborne.

To me, leaning back isn't any more comfortable than sitting up. I usually sit up, and go into a zen-like state of suspended animation until we get there.

Who ever sits behind me is lucky. I have back trouble and bring a lumbar roll support that really only seems to work when the seat is not reclined back or else is really uncomfortable. So really, my seat stays up for most of the trip. And since I am short, the reclining seat in front of me is not a bother.
I just hate it when people pull on your seat to stand up. It always seems to happen just as I might fall asleep. I also hate it when there are 2 fighting teenage sisters sitting in front of you having fart wars. Yup, that happened recently. I also hate it when I can hear what is coming out of your head phones. People need the bud things in your ears so you don't have to turn up your music to hear it and so I don't have to listen to what you are listening to.

I never recline out of courtesy for the person behind me. While I don't think it's rude for the person in front of me to recline, it's not exactly kind or thoughtful. It especially sucks if I'm trying to work on a laptop. So... I continue the "do unto others" philosophy.

Sticking with the "be kind to others" etiquette. A polite word goes hand in hand with polite behaviour and attitude. That said, because I can't ever sleep on a plane anyway, I hardly recline my seat at all. I would hope that the person in front of me doesn't recline theirs very much either, as I like to have my tray down to read, or if I am on a flight with tv screens in the seat in front of me (happened only once) I want to be able to watch the movie. With folks taking sleeping pills like Ambien, they get on the plane and zonk out right away, not eating any meals, etc. So them being able to make their seat go back up is going to be nil.

I don't decline my seat because I know how uncomfortable it makes the person behind me to have their space cramped. To me it's just common courtesy, though I appreciate that people have the 'right' to do so. Just like they have the 'right' to wear strong perfume on the flight and talk and laugh loudly throughout the flight while others are trying to sleep. I would never intentionally bump the seat in front of me, although I have had to use the seat back to pull myself out of my seat when I get out. I do apologize to the person in front of me if they are awake, because that seems to be common courtesy, too. The whole problem is due to the airlines cramming as many rows as humanly possible into the plane, which makes it impossible to recline without seriously inconveniencing others. The concept of reclining seats dates back to a time when the seat pitch between the seats was much greater than it is now. I understand that some airlines are experimenting with seats that will recline in a "slouching" way so that the reclined seat won't intrude as much into the rear passenger's space.

I honestly never gave it much thought. I always recline and can't imagine a flight without some recline, even a short one. It would hurt my back. I think everyone should recline and be comfortable. On our last international flight our seats got changed and we ended up in the very back in a non-reclined seat. The people in front of us reclined all the way, and yes, I had to climb out of my seat (being pinned in) that was the bummer for me, but it shouldn't keep other people from being comfortable. I guess if I'm going to pay $1,000 I want to be as comfortable as possible and I think everyone else should do the same. If you don't want the person in front of you to recline, then buy first class where you don't have to worry about it. Is that rude?

If I could afford to fly first class or business class, I would, as would anybody else, I imagine. Not something I have ever been able to do unfortunately.

As a general rule, I do recline my seat half way. However, depending on what is going on around me, the rule will evolve. Once, I was in the second to last row and did not recline my seat throughout the 8 hour flight because I felt so bad for the folks behind me who could not recline at all and would have suffered lots by me gaining an inch or so. Another time, I had a small child behind me, so I reclined to the fullest. I do agree that the reclining should be done gently and slowly. Had not thought about putting the seat back up during meal service. Will start to do this now.
A bigger pet peeve is when folks use the back of your seat to pull up and get out as it always jerks me awake. Also, when the guy next to you leaves his light on as he falls asleep.

As someone who flies often and am 6'3" who has his knees already wedged into the coach seat in front of me before take-off, I always politely tell the person sitting directly in front of me that my knees are already wedged into the back of their seat and to please let me know ahead of time if they find it necessary to recline their seat. From my may years of flying, my first flight was in 1946, I can not remember the last time that the FA's did not request everyone to please return their seats to the upright position when the meals are about to be served on the multiple of airlines on which I fly.
Rarely, the person in front of me does not return their seat to the upright position for meal service and I summon the FA and politely ask them to please ask the person in front to return their seat forward as my meal tray does not even come down flat due to my knees and their reclining seat. This has always worked. I always look behind me to see the size of the person sitting behind me to determine if I recline me seat or not and to see it they have reclined their seat. Since most of my flights are 5 1/2 hours in daytime, I rarely recline anyways. However, when on a 9 1/2 hour flight to Europe, I do recline my seat when the lights go down and most everyone tries to sleep. Good manners and communication is the key to most any situation.

Consideration for others is always good etiquette. I need to tilt my seat back a little if I want to sleep. It keeps my head from falling off. I go back one or two clicks only.

Like many others replying here, I do not recline my seat as I know how much I hate it when the person in front of me does it. I am tall and my knees are already eating the back of the seat in front of me; when the seat is reclined, I'm basically trapped. I usually give a few little "bumps" to the back of the seat to alert the person sitting there that this is the situation. Some people get it and pull the seat up a little and others don't. At that point whatever I have to do to get comfortable or get in and out of my seat is fair game regardless of how much I have to disturb that person. Some people are very rude about it and slam their seats back so fast I have had my knees bruised. Then there are those people who are in full recline mode and decide to stretch their arms and all of a sudden I have hands and arms hitting me in the head (this has actually happened). I wish they would retrofit the seats so that none of them recline.

I also recline as little as possible and try really hard not to fuss about the person in front of me who reclines all the way. We had a rather unpleasant experience last month on the flight from Paris-Seattle when our daughter wanted to recline just a bit and was rudely instructed to put her seat up! The man behind her reclined his seat all the way but was of such a great size that he still didn't have much room. Our feeling was that due to his size he really needed to be in first class....or we wouldn't have minded if he paid for us to be in first class....I wish!

That's what I liked about United Economy Plus. I had extra leg room and didn't mind the seat in front of me being reclined. Too bad I had to pay for it. It was worth it but there's a limit to how much I'd pay. No way would I pay for first class.

One word of advice regarding meal times: If you get a mini-bottle of wine (especially red), whatever you do, do not put it along the far end of your tray. I once saw a guy get his bottle tipped forward into his lap when the person in front of him whammed their seat back. Ever since then, I've been very, very careful with where I put my wine, just in case... (Oh, and the mini-sized bottle of Wine Away really does work to get red wine out in a sink wash. But that's a whole different story...)

No one has mentioned trying to use laptops. On business trips, I usually need to do some work while I'm in flight. Having the seat in front of me reclined all of the way means I have to peer at my computer screen when it is tipped down. And, several times, I've had the person in front of me tip the seat back so quickly it caught my screen and risked breaking it. I'm tall. I'd like to recline all the way back. But I don't because I know what an imposition doing so is to the person behind me.

These sort of problems don't happen with ipads!!

I use it because I sleep the majority of the way due to meds I take to keep my terrible ears clear. The seats were designed that way so the three inches is yours. However, it's confined space so you should just accept being bonked around a little if people are reaching down for something or getting up. If someone behind me is very tall or has something else going on I don't mind keeping it up so long as they ask, it's all about being polite and civil.

Use the light treatment on rude full back recliners. I try to turn it on and off as many times as possible. And I never recline my seat to discomfort anyone else Mike DC

"The seats were designed that way..." Maybe it is my imagination, but haven't the airlines reduced the space between rows of seats in recent years to fit in more passengers? The seats were designed at a time when there was more space for everyone. They need to be redesigned to cut a couple of inches off the recline.

I don't feel it's rude AT ALL to recline one's seat on a plane. That's how they are designed to be used. There was an interesting article on this very subject in The Wall Street Journal recently. Someone from The Emily Post ("Miss Manners") Institute even weighed in on the etiquette of seat reclining on a plane. If I am on a short flight (say, NY, where I reside, to Chicago, or NY to FL), I MAY choose not to recline my seat if I sence that the person behind me may be made uncomfortable. But that said, if I am on a flight from NY to Europe (a 6 - 8-ish hr flight) or NY to CA, I definitely recline my seat to rest/sleep/read/listen to ipod, etc. If someone behind me asks me to raise my seat so that it's easier for them to get in/out, or while they're eating, of course I oblige them. I feel every passenger who wishes to recline their seat (even in coach) is 100% entitled to.

I agree with Lawrence. Flying is uncomfortable enough already; if I don't recline my seat then it's like trying to sleep in a hard-backed chair. I try not to pull on the back of someone's (reclined) seat when I get up, but I have little room to get out (and I'm only 5 feet tall). If I have to hang onto their seat, I make sure not to pull their hair.

Lawrence says he doesn't think it at all rude to recline one's seat because that's how they were designed to be used. True, but when that design took olace the rows of seats were much further apart and there was a ton more room between you and the passenger in front.

I consider myself a very considerate person and I never even thought to question reclining my seat. If everybody reclines their seat, no one has less space - everyone's just reclined a bit. I find it rather odd that some people get bent out of shape about this. I'm 5' 9" tall with long legs; I need to do whatever I can to gain a little bit of comfort. If someone reclines the seat in front of you, then recline your seat to get your space back. I just assumed everyone reclined their seats. As others have mentioned, the seats are DESIGNED to be reclined.

Most of the time I never even think to recline my seat. I like to use my tray table during flight, so it annoys me to be unable to because the person in front of me reclines. (The argument that you get your space back if you, in turn, recline might be technically true, but it still doesn't make it possible to use the tray table.) On an overnight flight, when most people are trying to sleep, I might recline it a click or two, but no more than that. I do think it's true that the seats were designed when there was more space between the rows. I'm short, but even a little recline in front of me causes me to have to hold on to the seat to get out if I need to. You can't just stand up and walk out.

To get up out of my seat I push up on the arm rests - I never pull on someone's seat - I think that is rude. I barely recline, if at all, because it's uncomfortable for me. But I have no problem with someone in front reclining their seat all the way. I don't think it's rude at all.

The problem with putting the seat back is not merely the intrusion into the guy behind's space. It's also the fact that it makes the tray table unusable and it makes it well nigh impossible to get to the under-seat storage area to retrieve things needed in flight. (That's one reason I try to book aisle seats on long haul flightsso I can be sure to be able to access my things there by stepping into the aisle. I almost never sleep on long flights, so I value bring able to reach my books, electronics, meds, sweater, etc.) Putting the seat back all the way falls for me in the same class as keeping your window covering wide open or using your personal light when the person next to you is trying to sleep and would appreciate darkness. I know, I know, they're designed to work that way and I have every right to do it. But I don't, because I was taught not to act in such a way as to place my comfort over that of other people. That's what politeness meant to my generation. I realize that this is an old fashioned view and I don't expect it of others.

I rarely recline my seat and if I do, its only to the first click. I don't mind if someone reclines in front of me as long as they are considerate and do not recline all the way. I once had a guy with horrible body odor recline all the way when our food was being served. My husband politely asked the man to put his seat up for only 10 minutes. The guy put it up to the next click, still leaving me with no room. After the 10 minutes passed, he quickly put it back down, leaving me with his smelly body even closer :(.

I recline my seat when it is time to sleep. I fly over 12 hours, and I cannot sit up the whole time. I find most people recline their seats also, so if my seat is back , and theres is back, that makes us even I think. I don't think one needs to recline their seat if only flying 5 or 6 hours,, but there is a limit to what my back can take. My main complaint is HUGE people who actually overflow onto my seat,, I have had to sit with my arms pinned to my side for hours, and that is not fair period.