Airline regulations require upright seats for safety reasons, including ease of access, emergency situations, and preventing seats from becoming weapons. Passengers should prioritize safety over comfort and understand the importance of the rule.
Most airline regulations have a safety purpose behind them. Safety is the reason airplane seats must be upright for takeoff and landing.
A primary purpose for upright aircraft seats is the ease of getting in or out of the aircraft. In a non-emergency situation, disembarkation would be a much longer and more uncomfortable process if passengers had to almost climb over the seat backs to reach the aisles of the aircraft. Economy classes in most aircraft have an average seat pitch (the space between seats in a row) of about 31 inches (78.7 centimeters). This is a tight fit with upright seats. It’s easy to imagine how small the space becomes when a backrest intrudes on the already narrow area.
In emergency situations, free access to aircraft corridors is essential. Passengers must be able to reach the emergency exits as quickly as possible. Since most aircraft emergencies occur during takeoff or landing, it’s crucial that you have airplane seats at this time. It also allows passengers to assume the “crash position” if necessary.
Another reason for upright aircraft seats is that the seats can become weapons in a crash or even in a hard landing. A folded backrest could kill or seriously injure the passenger behind it if it were to unscrew or if the passenger behind it was thrown forward. Hence, upright airplane seats are required.
Most planes are airborne within seconds of starting their takeoff roll. The final approach usually takes only a few minutes. It’s not a big inconvenience to have your seat upright for those few minutes of flying. When passengers consider the safety of other passengers first and their own comfort second, they won’t complain about the airplane’s upright seat rule. They will understand that it contributes to the safety of everyone on board the aircraft.
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