Spilled drinks, smashed laptop screens and crushed knees.
AND new video shows the reasons why reclining airplane seats has gone from being an acceptable practice a major irritant for many air travelers.
The video is part of an advertising campaign launched in late November by furniture company La-Z-Boy, which includes petition imploring passengers to “Stay upright. Don’t lean back while flying.”
The petition had more than 186,000 signatures as of Monday, a La-Z-Boy representative said CNBC Travel.
The spoof campaign from the company, known for its lavish folding chairs, touches on an increasingly pressing issue, fueled by increasing number of passengers and increasingly smaller seat distances.
Unlike drunkenness and hygiene problems — like cutting nails and taking off shoes — which are widely despised by fellow travelersOpinions on reclining the seat generally fall into two camps: those who say it shouldn’t be done and others who claim the recline button is there for a reason. (A third, more nuanced position considers lying down acceptable on long-haul or overnight flights.)
La-Z-Boy’s campaign places the company firmly in the “never sit back” camp, with the petition stating that “just because you can doesn’t mean you should.”
Another video in the campaign shows how a reclining seat can ripple through the plane like falling dominoes, eventually ending up in the last row of the plane – a row that is disliked because it doesn’t recline and is hailed as one of several places on the plane where you can recline with impunitydepending on the aircraft.
A 2023 survey of 18 markets by research firm YouGov found that attitudes towards reclining seats vary from region to region, with Europeans the least tolerant of the practice. Europe is home to the tallest people in the world also.
However, less than one in three travelers in the United Arab Emirates found it bothersome.
Overall, UAE fliers were less bothered by every in-flight behavior – including personal grooming and noisy children – except one, according to the survey. Those from the UAE find public displays of affection unacceptable at higher rates than those from Europe, North America and Asia Pacific, the survey found.
