Why reclining seats are vanishing from airplanes
The airplane seat recline button – so controversial that it inspired an entire micro-industry of devices to stop the passenger in front leaning into your space. At one point in time all economy class airline seats had built-in recline. Today, there are entire seat models that simply don’t have the option. So what happened to make reclining seats disappear in some places? And is that a good thing, or a bad thing? Just because a passenger can recline their seat, should they?
As with so much in the airline business, it depends on who you ask. Let’s talk about how recline works. At its most basic, there’s a mechanism hidden in the structure underneath your seat cushion that contains a pivot, the wires connecting it to the button on your armrest, and a pneumatic canister that returns the seat to an upright position. Seatmakers call this kinematics: the parts that move.
For airlines, this represents a cost, firstly from maintenance: any kind of mechanism is prone to breaking, whether from normal wear and tear or because passengers don’t treat airplanes gently. Secondly, it’s a weight cost, because these mechanisms can quickly add up. Most modern and lightweight airplane seats are somewhere between seven and 10 kilograms (15-22 pounds) per passenger today. Any weight that can be saved means reducing the fuel needed to carry it.
And thirdly – and in some ways most importantly – it’s a disruption cost, because if passengers are fighting with each other over seat reclining etiquette, then flight attendants have to play schoolyard monitor. In some cases, passengers got so disruptive that flights have even diverted for safety.
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