It's No Surprise Airlines Have Banned the "Knee Defender"

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It's No Surprise Airlines Have Banned the "Knee Defender"
 
It's No Surprise Airlines Have Banned the "Knee Defender"
By Adam Levine-Weinberg | More Articles | Save For Later
September 7, 2014 | Comments (15)
Late last month, an obscure device called the "Knee Defender" suddenly became the subject of surging media attention -- and consumer interest. This $22 piece of plastic, which clips onto an airplane tray table and prevents the seat in front of you from reclining, spurred a confrontation on a United Continental flight that forced a flight diversion.
This incident has spurred a wave of arguments about which passenger really has the "right" to the space where a seat reclines. Some people believe that it's acceptable to recline your seat as far as it goes, while others argue that doing so is rude.

 

A United flight was diverted last month because of a fight about reclining seats.
While this debate goes on in the media, airlines have spoken almost unanimously by banning the Knee Defender. This shouldn't be much of a surprise. After all, if they didn't want passengers to recline, they wouldn't have installed reclining seats in the first place!
Airlines won't defend the "Knee Defender"
Almost all of the major U.S. airlines have banned the Knee Defender. Many international carriers have explicitly banned it too, including Air Canada, WestJet, Qantas, and Virgin Australia.
The united front against the Knee Defender among airlines is very understandable. At the most basic level, using the device risks damaging the plane, particularly if a passenger tries to forcibly recline his or her seat while a Knee Defender is installed behind it.
In any case, Knee Defender advocates face a thorny problem. If airlines thought it was wrong for passengers to recline their seats, why would they install reclining seats in the first place? It would almost certainly be cheaper to buy seats that are fixed in the upright position.

B)

 

[Glenn Quagmire]

Easy solution is no recline for anyone in economy class...or a federal charge for tampering with an aircraft.

 

[xUT]

Easy solution is no recline for anyone in economy class...or a federal charge for tampering with an aircraft.

IMHO, it is the ridiculous narrow allowance for seat pitch.
Crap, the average male has a shoulder width of 18" 1/4 sitting in a 17" wide seat.
Maybe the ADA should get involved and have every isle and seat meet ADA compliance.
 
Or maybe this is the future:

Airbus files patent for 'saddle' seats

 
MOOoooooooooo...

 

[xUT]

IMHO, it is the ridiculous narrow allowance for seat pitch.
Crap, the average male has a shoulder width of 18" 1/4 sitting in a 17" wide seat.
Maybe the ADA should get involved and have every isle and seat meet ADA compliance.
 
Or maybe this is the future:
Airbus files patent for 'saddle' seats

 
MOOoooooooooo...

Comes with a pooper sucker and catheter for long haul flights.
 
B)