"Knee Defender" on flights, what do you think ?

[roamer]

First time I've heard of this, a device that clips onto your tray and stops the person in front of you reclining your their seat. Already caused a brawl on one US flight. So would you use one ? What would be your reaction if the person behind you did ? Some airlines ban them but I've often noticed that some Asian airlines are more reluctant to deal with truculent passengers than their American or European counterparts.

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-planning/travel-news/legroom-gadget-sales-jump-after-seat-recline-spat-on-plane-20140827-3edyi.html

[tw25rw]

I try to choose seats where I have plenty of room, but if my knees go into the back of the person in front, I just suffer it and make sure they can feel my knees in their back.

[JesseFrank]

If the person behind me would use such a device I would smash his knee caps.

I pay for a seat that can be reclined, so does the person behind you, so what gives him the right to restrict your comfort.

[tifino]

missus thai always scolds me when I lock me knees into position, ready for battle....

I'm over 6 ft, and got sick off the recalcitrants who delight in whacking the seat right back, even causing stuff to spill from your eating tray.

[Lite Beer]

Sounds a great idea.

I have no time for the ignorant people who within minutes of sitting down recline their seat and crush my knees.

I usually then do not bother with the meal as I cannot open the tray.

I do make sure that I push my knees into their back for the entire journey.

I have no time for inconsiderate people.

If I see someone sitting behind me I never recline my seat.

[ravip]

But the real culprit is the airline - they should leave enough leg room for tall people.

Am I wrong?

[surangw]

i have more of a problem when in economy seats with those fools behind me that can't rise out of their seats with out clutching the back of my seat.

[roamer]

Sounds a great idea.

I have no time for the ignorant people who within minutes of sitting down recline their seat and crush my knees.

I usually then do not bother with the meal as I cannot open the tray.

I do make sure that I push my knees into their back for the entire journey.

I have no time for inconsiderate people.

If I see someone sitting behind me I never recline my seat.

And if the person in front has reclined their seat leaving you less room ? I often think there is a collapsing domino effect coming into play.

Edited August 27, 2014 by roamer

[danbradster]

But the real culprit is the airline - they should leave enough leg room for tall people.

Am I wrong?

If people only bought tickets on airlines with more legroom, they would do so. Clearly people go for the cheaper fares over leg room.

There are websites out there that compare leg room between airlines. You can choose the airline with more leg room if you like.

[Lite Beer]

Sounds a great idea.

I have no time for the ignorant people who within minutes of sitting down recline their seat and crush my knees.

I usually then do not bother with the meal as I cannot open the tray.

I do make sure that I push my knees into their back for the entire journey.

I have no time for inconsiderate people.

If I see someone sitting behind me I never recline my seat.

And if the person in front has reclined their seat leaving you less room ? I often think there is a collapsing domino effect coming into play.

Makes no difference, my knees are still crushed and cannot open seat tray.

I find it astonishing that someone on a flight of less than an hour has to recline the seat even before taking off.

Selfish ignorant people.

[JesseFrank]

Sounds a great idea.

I have no time for the ignorant people who within minutes of sitting down recline their seat and crush my knees.

I usually then do not bother with the meal as I cannot open the tray.

I do make sure that I push my knees into their back for the entire journey.

I have no time for inconsiderate people.

If I see someone sitting behind me I never recline my seat.

I do make sure that I push my knees into their back for the entire journey.

I guess that was you then sitting behind me on my last flight

On a more serious note, whenever I fly and I use always China airlines, the cabin staff do a good job avoiding people reclining their seat before the flight is well going, and also making sure they put upright there seat during meal servings.

By the way, how often do you take a flight where nobody is sitting behind you, and on an 11 hour flight you just sit upright for the entire flight ?

Edited August 27, 2014 by JesseFrank

[tifino]

just reading the article in the OP's link, and there are some further links beyond that one.

One concept brought out in the other article, was the view no one should be reclining-at-all during flights of less than 3 hours...

[doggie888888]

I recline my seat on long haul when i feel like sleeping. Out of courtesy to the person behind, i will return to upright position during meal times.

If you are behind and can't tolerate that, i suggest you fly business class.

[tifino]

just like an Ambulance can be fitted with a device that remotely changes Traffic Lights in their favour: what we need is for someone to be more inventive than the knee defender...

...what about some Remote-dooHickey device, that can make the 'fasten seatbelts' light come on - now!! that will bring all the seats upright whenever you want your knees to come up for air

Easier, would be the captain declare 'Seatbelts ON' for the duration of mealtimes...

[nidieunimaitre]

My "almost favourite" airline, Ryanair, has NO reclining seats.

And at the back of the seat in front of you, there is NO fold for putting 3 cm worth of stupid magazines.

Now if they could get rid of that CEO clown, they would be my favourite airline.....

[h90]

Sounds a great idea.

I have no time for the ignorant people who within minutes of sitting down recline their seat and crush my knees.

I usually then do not bother with the meal as I cannot open the tray.

I do make sure that I push my knees into their back for the entire journey.

I have no time for inconsiderate people.

If I see someone sitting behind me I never recline my seat.

It is not the people who are inconsiderate...they paid for a seat that be reclined without restriction.

It is the airline who arranged the seats to close to each other.

[Chivas]

If the person behind me would use such a device I would smash his knee caps.

I pay for a seat that can be reclined, so does the person behind you, so what gives him the right to restrict your comfort.

What pisses people off is when passengers go wallop with no indication they are about to recline. If they catch me unawares and its clear they are being deliberately ignorant, then that seat gets pushed back up way quicker than it came down........

Bear in mind those economy seats will go all the forward to an almost horizontal position if you push from behind. You have been warned...........

[tifino]

I see many airlines are 'pro-actively'?? banning the use of the knee-protectors.

geez, we can't win!! y'know the inventor got the idea from using an umbrella...

geez, we can't now substitute an umbrella instead - it would not be allowed in the cabin these days, for the anti-terrorism factor.

[wellred]

I find if someone in front of me is taking the mick I usually make it a point to grab hold of the seat from both sides every time I get up and also play knee tappy when I need to stretch my legs.

[Bubbagreenbird]

If people are willing to pay $21 plus for this item than why can't airlines just increase economy

tickets $20-$25 per seat and give us all additional 3-5 inches?

[David48]

But the real culprit is the airline - they should leave enough leg room for tall people.

Am I wrong?

I believe yes ... not morally, but the Business Model.

Airlines often run at a loss, the National Carriers are often propped up by government subsidies.

Sure AirAsia turns a profit and some other targeted airlines, but generally there is little or no profit.

So, less passengers on a flight because there are less seats thus less revenue per flight.

Not everyone needs the extra room. Sure, everyone would want it ... but 'need' it ... not everyone.

I don't know every airline, but with Thai, you can buy Thai Premium Economy, with AirAsia you can buy the seats with the extra legroom.

So, for those who say ... there is no way I'm paying more for the extra legroom has effectively shown that his travelling dollar is more important then his travelling comfort.

Hence, by lowering costs the airlines have responded to the flying public's desire for the lowest cost fares.

Here is a list of those Airlines offering Premium Economy ... http://www.seatguru.com/charts/premium_economy.php

Personally, I concious of my fellow passengers and if I do recline my seat, I don't do that during meal times and when I do that I recline slowly.

As for my thoughts on the Knee Defender ... the person who has bought the seat in-front of you has a right to recline their seat, but everyone has a responsibility to courteous to fellow passengers. While we are on that flight, we are all in the same fish-bowl.

.

[roamer]

If people are willing to pay $21 plus for this item than why can't airlines just increase economy

tickets $20-$25 per seat and give us all additional 3-5 inches?

I would be quite happy to pay for an additional 3-5 inches, alas I feel the blood supply is not sufficient for this particular TV member any other "members" out there feel they would like an extra 3-5 inches ?

[David48]

Timing is a funny thing. Just after I hit the Post button on the above, the Morning TV news had a small item on the Knee Protector.

Qantas and Virgin Australia have banned the controversial Knee Defender dongle which prevents economy seats from reclining.

Both airlines issued statements confirming their stance in the wake of a highly publicised stoush on a United Airlines flight which saw the plane make an unscheduled landing and two passengers marched off.

Here

.

[wooloomooloo]

I am not surprised that preventing the person in front of you from reclining is going to upset the recliner.

I would be upset to the point that I would remove the offending items myself if they weren't removed by kind request.

[Likener1]

If someone is so tall or large that the seat in front, when reclined, causes a problem for them its their own fault for not choosing a different seat, say by the exits or not paying for a higher class with the room they know they need..

As for demanding that the seat in front is not reclined because they want to use their laptop, well that's preposterous

Expecting, demanding or even forcing by means of the "Knee Defender" others to conform to their own desires is pure selfishness and totally unreasonable and not one that I would tolerate.

Devices such as this seemingly have already caused problems and are bound to cause many more and should be banned from all airlines before a full on fight takes place, which will undoubtedly happen.

[moojar]

I recline my seat on long haul when i feel like sleeping. Out of courtesy to the person behind, i will return to upright position during meal times.

If you are behind and can't tolerate that, i suggest you fly business class.

I don't think any reasonable person has a problem with that, or even reclining the seat a little bit for most of a long-haul flight. It is the people who recline 100% for 100% of the flight that p*ss me off.

The budget airlines seem the worst for the 100% crowd - Jetstar and Scoot are the two I have experienced. Don't know if it's because their passengers travel less frequently (less sophisticated travellers), their passengers are younger (me me me), or there is some sort of lower socio-economic chip-on-shoulder thing going on.

[ezzra]

The Knee defender should have come with another contraption, Balls defender, just in case

the person in front will not like your knee defender...

[dinger]

According to the original story. The passengers were sitting in premium economy seats and when the passenger using the device was told by the flight attendent to remove it, he refused, resulting in an altercation

[Saan]

But the real culprit is the airline - they should leave enough leg room for tall people.

Am I wrong?

You are right, the airlines are getting greedier. As people are getting taller theairlines are continually reducing the space between the seats. Something has to give and it is usually peoples tempers. Aviation regulators need to step in here and specify minimum leg room as the reduced space can lead to such problems as DVT - and a punch on the chin.

[T_Dog]

The seat pitch on some airlines is so tight that my knees are already up against the seat before they try to recline. I can't help being tall, but I do feel a bit bad for those in front of me that try to recline and realize they can't. Only had one case where the guy in front kept trying for five hours but at least he didn't throw any water at me. It's especially bad on some planes like the -777 that have electronic entertainment boxes on the floor where my feet would like to go but can't.