Brand Mix

Ever been trying to get a little less uncomfortable on a flight when, wham, the person in front of you puts their seat back, crushing your knees, spilling your drink and shutting down your laptop?

You might think that the answer to this problem is simple--if airlines are going to provide so little legroom, they should get rid of reclining seats. But you'd be wrong. They couldn't do that. Passengers think that they have a right to put their seat back if they want to and would be outraged if that right was taken away. So, however sympathetic the airlines may or may not have been to the plight of the crushed, they have done nothing.

But here comes United with a clever solution. Partially reclining seats. They still tilt back but only a little bit. That way the passengers who want to exercise their constitutional right to tip back their seats can still do that but the passengers behind them still get a little breathing room. Brilliant!

P.S. My evidence for this brilliance is based on two flights today, too small a sample to completely eliminate an alternative explanation, namely that the seats weren't working properly.