Passenger Seat Back latching - Important?
Does it matter if a seat back won't stay in the upright position for takeoff and/or landing? Does it have safety implications?
Should cabin staff care?
Should a captain or an airline care?
On a flight from Geneva to Luton last week, I got seat 18c, on the aisle. The seat back was in reclined (slightly - as far as it goes) position. I knew from previous flights that I would be asked to put it as far upright as it goes for T/O so I did it myself. After a minute or so of normal leaning back on it, it slowly (as if on a hydraulic damper) reclined itself. I thought I must have failed to latch it properly so I did put it up again and made sure it was firmly held. Again after a minute or so it slowly lowered itself.
Just before T/O a cabin attendant came round and told me to put it up. I explained that it was defective. She ignored that and made me put it up again. I did. She went away. The seat back subsided again.
When we started descent for LTN, the same attendant reached my seat and told me to put the back up. I told her again it was defective and wouldn't stay there. She made me put it up again. I did. She went away. The seat back subsided again.
She came back and the episode repeated itself.
Finally, her colleague came by, saw the seat back reclined, and we went through it all again. I was pretty exasperated by this time. She told me I should speak nicely to her and made me put the seat up again. I did. She went away. The seat back subsided again. The passenger next to me who had observed all these incidents said to me "she was a bit naughty, speaking to you like that!".
Not wishing to be accused of air rage, get forcibly retrained, and then arrested, I left matters there until the flight was over.
Then I tried to speak to the captain to ask if it was a reportable problem that this seat was defective. I was told he was too busy.
So: a) my questions as above - is there a safety issue with these seats, and should someone care?
b) If a pax draws attention of cabin crew to such a seat, is the right approach for them to ignore the symptom and tell the passenger to do it right and not complain? Or is there another, preferred, way of cabin crew handling defective seat issues and the people who tell them about them?
Chris N.