NEW YORK (AP) — Airline passengers have come to expect a tiny escape from the confined space of today’s packed planes: the ability to recline their seat a few inches. When one passenger was denied that bit of personal space Sunday, it led to a heated argument and the unscheduled landing of their plane, just halfway to its destination.
The fight started on a United Airlines flight because one passenger was using the Knee Defender, a $21.95 gadget that attaches to a passenger’s tray table and prevents the person in front of them from reclining.
The Federal Aviation Administration leaves it up to individual airlines to set rules about the device. United Airlinessaid it prohibits use of the device, like all major U.S. airlines. Spirit Airlines and Allegiant Air take the reclining mechanisms out of their seats, leaving them permanently upright.
The dispute on United Flight 1462 from Newark, New Jersey to Denver escalated to the point where the airlinedecided to divert to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, according to Transportation Security Administration spokesman Ross Feinstein.
Chicago Police and TSA officers met the flight, spoke to the passengers — a man and a woman, both 48 — and “deemed it a customer service issue,” Feinstein said. The TSA would not name the passengers.
The plane then continued to Denver without them, arriving 1 hour and 38 minutes late, according to the airline’swebsite.
The Federal Aviation Administration can impose a civil fine of up to $25,000 for passengers who are unruly. In this case, no arrest was made, according to airport spokesman Gregg Cunningham.
The fight started when the male passenger, seated in a middle seat of row 12, used the Knee Defender to stop the woman in front of him from reclining while he was on his laptop, according to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak.
A flight attendant asked him to remove the device and he refused. The woman then stood up, turned around and threw a cup of water at him, the official says. That’s when United decided to land in Chicago. The two passengers were not allowed to continue to Denver.
Both passengers were sitting in United’s Economy Plus section, the part of the plane that has four more inches of legroom than the rest of coach.
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Scott Mayerowitz can be reached at http://twitter.com/GlobeTrotScott.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
This story just says it all.
Everything you need to know about the present-day American public is in there.
The guy was a major league jerk.
By the way I just few on one of those economy plus seats. It was considered an upgrade. I am glad I didn’t pay extra for it. Not really bigger than the economy seats in the back of the plane and the extra legroom was hard to find. Of course the seat was proudly emblazoned that it was an upgrade.
I am 6’2". It is actually painful when someone slams their seat back in front of me. There is no place for my legs to go. I have found that if I ask the person to give me break, most of the time they will. Really considerate people will look back before reclining. I don’t think this says bad things about Americans. I think it says bad things about corporate greed.
What a peculiar photo choice.
Same here, 6’2" and it is just not acceptable to have someone in my lap. Frankly this story disturbs me a bit as I had always assumed that if I got a flight attendant involved they would ask the person in front to put their seat back up if it was in my lap. Good to know I am on my own. I guess fake coughing fits that drive my knees into the back of the chair and make the person concerned they are getting SARS coughed on them for the win!