Is there anything more irritating than surviving all that airport kerfuffle, flopping into your spot, only to almost be heat-butted by the seat in front of you when it suddenly but inevitably darts backwards? Probably not – but thankfully, those dreaded flights could soon be over.
That’s because a whole host of airlines are reducing or even completely ditching reclining seats. And while this isn’t entirely new – Ryanair scrapped reclining seats way back in 2004, and other budget airlines followed suit – it’s now catching on, even with long-haul carriers.
But that’s not to say you’ll have to sleep bolt upright next time you catch a red-eye. Instead, seats are often ‘pre-reclined’, meaning the angle of them is between fully upright and fully reclined.
Not only is this better for our posture and comfort while sleeping when we’re sat, according to Andrew Lawrence, president of the Chiropractors Association of Australia, but the simpler seat design means aircrafts are lighter, and use less fuel. Pretty nifty, right?
Jet2 began utilising this design by Acro in 2009, and British Airways flights shorter than four hours tend to feature these seats, too. Delta halved their seat reclines to two inches in 2019, as did United, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines. Finnair even launched new business class seats which couldn’t be adjusted.
But while they’re being reduced quite significantly, it’s unlikely the feature will completely disappear from long-haul services anytime soon.
So next time you’re on a plane where you can sit back and enjoy the flight, just make sure to not knock over anyone’s dinner, smash any laptops, break any noses or cause any fights – all of which have been a consequence of the seat-recline, according to the Sun.
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