"Knee Defender" Airplane Device Ignites Air Travel Battle: To Recline or Not?

This cartoon--overstating things a bit--is from Slate.

I've written in this space, recently even, about the extreme divide between Americans, on a variety of subjects. Usually, these battles fall directly along partisan lines, but there's a new one. New to me, anyway. And that is, the subject of whether or not an airline passenger should recline their seat in flight.

This never occurred to me as a "me vs. them" issue. I mean, never. I don't always recline my chair, but I often do. The comfort level increase is marginal, but it's often easier to catch a few Zs, or even get a better vantage point of your electronic device, book or movie from the ever-so-slightly-reclined position. Ellen DeGeneres used to do a bit on the laughable difference between reclined and upright, with a tiny shift of her upper body deciding her fate in an emergency: "[upright] live. . . [slight tilt] die."

The "Knee Defender", Image from USAToday

But, with the news item about a diverted United Airlines flight, sparked by two passengers fighting over leg room (and the use of a "Knee Defender" gadget that locks another passenger's seat upright), two camps have emerged: a) people who think that passengers who recline are unfathomably rude; and b) people who recline, and are mightily pissed that they're being called rude!  The no-recliners claim that the other passenger is invading their space, and the recliners claim that the other passenger is preventing them from using the space they've paid for.

There is no way this is a new issue, but I'll be damned if I've ever heard of it. Certainly, occasionally, a seat will over-recline, and I can see politely asking for someone to adjust a bit. And I'm aware that not everyone is 5' 8" like me, and are more cramped than I am. And I'd get it if I was over-hogging an arm rest, if I were grotesquely obese, and overflowed into another passenger's seat. I'd get it if by reclining my seat, I was doing something that is somehow not allowed, breaking the rules by misusing the seat. But these seats are designed to recline!

You can put me firmly in the "I am inclined to recline" camp. If you ask me nicely, I may accommodate you. If you're rude to me about it? Forget it. I'll wallow in that reclined seat.

[Excerpt]

United flight diverts over 'Knee Defender' fight

On Sunday, a fight between two passengers over personal space, a thrown cup of water and the use of a controversial plastic gadget that prevents airline seats from reclining caused United Airlines Flight 1462 from Newark, N.J., to Denver to divert to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, the AP reports. . .

Read more at: USAToday

And here is a link to a previous story about the appropriateness of reclining: The Recline and Fall of Western Civilization

American Airlines to Charge for Every Bag?

Image from Card Cow

It's got to be hard to run an airline in the USA, particularly one that has been around forever, and thus has heavy overhead costs. Throw in ridiculous fuel prices, and they're really in a pickle. But the one thing you can't do is irritate your customers so much that they choose to go elsewhere.

American Airlines is going to start charging for every piece of checked luggage, even if you only have one. Excuse me? Having taken a larger than usual number of flights over the last year, I'm familiar with the security drill. Besides having to remove my shoes, my belt, my watch, my computer, and hobbling around trying to get dressed and put back together, there is the issue of liquids. This idiotic rule holds that you cannot take more than 3 oz. of a liquid in carry-on luggage. So, even though I used to try to avoid checked baggage, I now put my toiletry kit into my checked baggage. But now, at least on American, that will cost me $15.

Whining about that may be a bit selfish considering American's coming layoffs, but unless American is joined by all or most other airlines with this plan, they're going to have problems.

[Excerpt]

American to charge $15 for 1st checked bag

American Airlines will start charging $15 for the first checked bag, cut domestic flights and lay off workers -- probably in the thousands -- as the nation's largest carrier grapples with record-high fuel prices.

American plans to cut domestic flight capacity by 11 percent to 12 percent in the fourth quarter, after the peak summer season is over. The carrier was previously planning a 4.6 percent cut. . .

Read more at: Yahoo! News

Pilots Say Cockpit Dangers Being Ignored

Photo from source, CNN

Gaaah. With The Other Half regularly working (ok, not lately, but soon) on airplanes--this gives me a wiggins. Hopefully, they're exaggerating?

[Excerpt]

Pilots: Cockpit dangers being ignored

Regulators have largely ignored a series of dangerous incidents in which cockpit windshields in commercial airliners shattered in midflight, sometimes forcing emergency landings, according to an American Airlines pilots' group.

Since 2004, at least 10 windshields have had problems on Boeing 757s, mostly the result of wiring problems with windshield heaters that cause smoke to fill the cockpit and sometimes make those windshields crack, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. Four incidents have been on American Airlines planes, the NTSB says. . .

Read more at: CNN

Thanks to Stupid Monkey Planet for the link

United and Delta Airlines to Merge?

Bill Maher used to joke that with all of the corporate mergers, we'd be down to "OnliBank." And now maybe we could add "OnliAir." Two of America's biggest and most historic airlines are talking merger.

I don't think they'll ever all merge down to one, but if the trend of other industries holds, there may be only two or three in the end, right? For office supplies, you've got Office Max, Office Depot or Staples. Pet stores? Petco and Petsmart. Hardware? Lowe's or Home Depot. Coffee? Starbucks and, well. . . there's just Starbucks.

This one is a little more troublesome, because The Other Half works for one of the airlines in question. And if there's one thing I've learned it's that the various factions within the industry don't usually take these things well. Stay tuned.

[Excerpt]

Delta, United Fly On Merger Talk As Market Stumbles

Delta Air Lines and UAL (United Airlines) are the subject of merger speculation, after an investor with stakes in both carriers began pushing for a tie-up.

Delta released comments Wednesday afternoon responding to a letter in which hedge fund Pardus Capital Management, a shareholder in both companies, urged the airline to lead industry consolidation with a merger. . .

Read it at: Forbes