Reclining Policy for Takeoff and Landing

[JohnK]

Please note this is not meant to be another reclining thread.

I was sitting in 26C on a DJ flight last night when the captain announced that we were about to descend and the seat belt sign was switched on. There was 2 ladies in 25A and 25B that had their seats reclined on the short flight and I noticed they were still reclined when we were landing. I had a quick look around the cabin and I could multiple seats still in the recline position.

By the way the cabin crew did a check of the cabin before descent so you would think they would have noticed people still reclined. I know for a fact on QF flights you are asked to return your seat back to the upright position when the seat belt sign is switched on and I have seen the crew enforce this even when a passenger is sleeping.

Does anyone know if the airlines have a policy on reclining during takeoff and landing? I would have thought that there was a safety concern if there was an emergency and there was not enough room to get out of your seat. Did the crew forget to ask people to return their seats to the upright position?

 

[serfty]

Qantas certainly have a policy.

I believed DJ did as well, perhaps not ...

 

[nlagalle]

Qantas certainly have a policy.

I believed DJ did as well, perhaps not ...

I know QF certainly do. I had someone in front of me who kept reclining it after being told not to. a swift knee into the back of the seat from me put a stop to it.

 

[ishkaban]

DJ have the same policy as everybody else, and the upright seats are mentioned in the PA by the cabin crew when the fasten seat belt signs come on.

I have noticed that on some dj older aircraft, certain seats dont go back to the full upright position

 

[JohnK]

I don't know if this was one of the older aircraft but the seats were definitely reclined, I saw them reclining the seats, and not in that position due to wear and tear.

It does nothing to make me comfortable for future flights if DJ has a policy for seats to be in an upright position for takeoff and landing and this was ignored, policed, by the cabin crew on my flight. What else are the crew ignoring?

 

[Commuter]

Is it possible that they were naughty passengers who put their seatback upright when being told, and then once the cabin crew were out of sight, they reclined it again?

 

[Keith009]

I thought this was standard safety procedure on all airlines. With rare exceptions, cabin crew have been quite vigourous at policing this IME whether it's QF or other airlines.

I guess you either had "naughty pax" or a lax crew.

 

[Maca44]

I thought this was standard safety procedure on all airlines.

I spoke with a friend last night who has been an GSM with QF for nearly 30 years about this and he said that 'one' of the reasons the seats have to be upright position is that in the event of an emergency, and the Capt announces pax to assume the crash position with their arms onto the back of the seat in front fo them, then the pax with their seat reclined are unable to do so.

 

[laffer]

I know QF certainly do. I had someone in front of me who kept reclining it after being told not to. a swift knee into the back of the seat from me put a stop to it.

I love it. Recliners are the bane of my existence.

 

[JohnK]

Is it possible that they were naughty passengers who put their seatback upright when being told, and then once the cabin crew were out of sight, they reclined it again?

No. It was more than 2 passengers reclined when I looked around the cabin during descent and at no stage did I notice the crew inform any passengers to return their seats to the upright position.

I am happy to be proven wrong but as far as I am aware the crew did not perform their rightful duty in regards to reclined seats. And yes they did come through the cabin one last time before the captain finally announced the crew to be seated.

Anyway I will leave it at that for now and I hope I do not encounter this type of incident again. Safety is safety and there is no compromise.

 

[IMOA]

I almost accidentally did this last night on QF. Was in row 24 on a 763 with the mini economy cabin (ie, galley directly behind me) so since I had no-one behind me and it was a very long week (and I'd spent a couple of hours in the lounge) as soon as the seatbelt light went off the headphones went on and the seat went back so I could doze the flight. Towards the end of the flight I looked out to the side and realised we were only about 2 minutes from landing and no-one had said a word. I'll usually get a tap on the elbow for the headphones but since I was reclined this time I was realy surprised that the cabin crew didn't say anything. To be honest it was kinda nice as I was completely knackered but certainly not what I'd consider normal.

 

[nlagalle]

I spoke with a friend last night who has been an GSM with QF for nearly 30 years about this and he said that 'one' of the reasons the seats have to be upright position is that in the event of an emergency, and the Capt announces pax to assume the crash position with their arms onto the back of the seat in front fo them, then the pax with their seat reclined are unable to do so.

Another reason is so you can easily evacuate your seat in the event of an emergency... harder to do it with the seat in front of you reclined.

 

[N860CR]

I noticed on QF down from BNE last night that the guy across from me left his seat down from taxi to landing and wasn't stopped. I think it's just a case of some people not following the rules and some crew missing it when they're busy.

 

[Commuter]

No. It was more than 2 passengers reclined when I looked around the cabin during descent and at no stage did I notice the crew inform any passengers to return their seats to the upright position.

I am happy to be proven wrong but as far as I am aware the crew did not perform their rightful duty in regards to reclined seats. And yes they did come through the cabin one last time before the captain finally announced the crew to be seated.

That's bad. They should have told them to put their seatback upright, and if they refused, they should have escalated it.

 

[wallacej]

IME QF and DJ are as diligent as each other on this matter. I suggest you got a crew that were pushed for time, lazy, or just missed it (hard to beleive that they could accidentally miss that many).

 

[zzyss]

We should come up with a horror story about reclined seats, so that if anybody ever finds themselves in the situation where the person in front have their seat reclined, they could tell the story (in a loud-ish voice) to the person sitting next to them...

 

[pauly7]

No. It was more than 2 passengers reclined when I looked around the cabin during descent and at no stage did I notice the crew inform any passengers to return their seats to the upright position.

I am happy to be proven wrong but as far as I am aware the crew did not perform their rightful duty in regards to reclined seats. And yes they did come through the cabin one last time before the captain finally announced the crew to be seated.

Anyway I will leave it at that for now and I hope I do not encounter this type of incident again. Safety is safety and there is no compromise.

John, you should PM crazydave your flight details. A couple of PAX reclining after the crew sit down is hard to police but it sounds like they missed the check altogether.

Dave can follow it up and ensure the staff are reviewed / reprimanded etc

 

[oz_mark]

I have seen it happen on QF as well where the recline checking was not done.

I also note that some QF seats auto-recline