Oh don’t we all love to travel, whether it’s for business or pleasure.
It’s exciting going through security then finding the gate, before locating your seat for the trip. But while most of us dream of the most comfort, it’s not always the case for all the seats on a flight.
So have you ever wondered why your chair won’t recline on the plane? According to an American Airlines pilot, there’s two reasons behind this – and you might find them rather interesting.
Captain Steve has garnered a following of 220,000 on TikTok thanks to his flight secrets and for previously sharing the “frustrating” reason cabin crew still go through security. Now in a recent post, he explained reclining your seats.
He said: “You just got back into your seat, you’re all comfy, you built your little nest, you put all your electronics away, put all the stuff in the overhead compartment and you’re thinking to yourself, it’s time to relax, I’m going to recline my seat a little bit.
“So you push that button and the seat won’t recline, you push it again and it just won’t recline, you’re like what in the world is going on?
“It’s one of two things my friends, either you’re up in the back row against the bulkhead and that seat isn’t going to recline, why because there’s a wall behind you. And the other is you’re in front of an emergency exit row.”
Captain Steve continued: “You didn’t score that nice exit row seat with the extra legroom, you scored the seat in front of the exit row that won’t recline. No matter what you do and how hard you push that button, that seat isn’t going back. Why?
“Because we need to leave it in an unimpeded path out through that exit so people don’t stumble or fall, there’s nothing that impedes their progress.
“On many of those seats, there’s not even a tray table, so the guy sitting in the exit row doesn’t have a tray table, it comes out of the compartment next to him.”
The pilot claimed the purpose is all down to safety. So the next time you jump on the flight, make sure you take a look at the seat before you try to recline. Because if you’re in front of the exit row, you certainly won’t be able to adjust your seat.
Since the post was shared, it racked up 6,400 likes and over 150 comments. One said: “Wow, now that is a new one!” Another added: “Ahh, that’s why!” And a third chimed in: “Thank you Captain!” While a fourth gushed: “Love this guy, I learn so much!”