Three fights on an airplane within a week have led to diverted flights and renewed fervor of an old debate: should passengers be allowed to recline in economy class seats?
In the latest incident, an American Airlines flight traveling to Miami from Paris made an emergency landing after Edmund Alexandre, 60, was detained by air marshals.
Alexandre asked an unidentified woman in front of him to move her reclined seat. She refused and an argument ensued. A flight attendant attempted to mediate, and was accosted by Alexandre which led to his arrest.
After landing, Alexandre was treated at a Boston hospital for a pre-existing medical condition, and later handed local and federal charges for interfering with a flight crew.
The people in favor of reclining insist that paying more for better seats would be in everyone's best interest. New York Times Columnist Josh Barro took that premise even further by suggesting that the "right to recline" has a financial value that should be purchased.
"When you buy an airline ticket, one of the things you're buying is the right to use your seat's reclining function," Barro said. " If this passenger so badly wanted the passenger in front of him not to recline, he should have paid her to give up that right."
Other are just as adamant in their belief that reclining is unfair to other passengers, and should be reserved for special circumstances.
PSA: You never recline an economy class airplane seat. Never, ever, never, never. It is the peak of selfishness. End of story.
— Brian Hamilton (@BrianHamiltonSI) August 26, 2014
One solution that would satisfy both parties is having less seats per plane, but that means less money per flight plus additional flights to compensate for passengers who were unable to travel on crowded flights.
In 2000, American Airlines implemented a program called "More Room Throughout Coach" which had fewer passengers per flight but more premium seats for flyers. The prorgram was discontinued in 2004 after reporting huge financial losses.
In short, there is no simple solution.
A new code of conduct could be suggested by airlines, with a three strikes program. What we don't need is more diverted flights and arrests over something that could solved with civility or if that doesn't work, a structured set of rules.
