Last week, two commercial flights were diverted due to air rage arising out of the use of reclining seats. Actually, one of the incidents involved the use of a rather ingenious device to prevent the seat in front from reclining but the issue is still the same.

Flying is a stressful enough experience for most people these days, what with increased security, endless queues and the attitude of some of the officials but the problem of reclining seats seems to be one of the most common sources of friction. What can you do if the seat in front of you suddenly launches back causing the television screen to smack against your face, your plate of beef curry to overturn on your lap and your red wine to splash on to your nice white shirt? And should you recline your own seat without first communicating your intention to the passenger immediately behind you?

These are vexed questions and there seem to be no clear guidelines other than those of common sense and courtesy. If food and drink are being served then it is clearly selfish and thoughtless to recline your seat and many is the time that, to avoid confrontation, I have simply asked a member of the cabin crew to ask the person in front to put his or her seat back up whilst I enjoy my meal. After we’ve all eaten and most of the passengers are ready to sleep(particularly on long haul overnight flights)it’s alright, I think, to recline your seat but it’s always nice to politely indicate your intention to the person behind.

On short haul flights of up to 4 hours or so the easiest solution would be to just use planes with fixed seats so that reclining is not an option. Some airlines already do this and maybe it should become a universal practice. If people still want to recline and sleep then they should have the option of paying more to be seated in a special reclining section. Mind you, it’s easy for me to say that since, as a regular traveller in cattle class, I am lucky enough to be able to sleep in any position!

Unless something is done about the use of reclining seats the problem of passenger rage is not going to disappear and will simply remain as just another irritant of air travel. As for the fiddling pain in the butt who sits behind you, kneeing the back of your seat, shaking your headrest and pulling your hair? Well that’s another story!