The Ethics of the Exit Row Lean-Back

As any air traveler taller than five feet, one half inch knows, it's not a whole lot of fun to fly coach. What is slightly less fun is sitting coach in the row immediately behind the exit row, tantalizingly close to a precious few extra inches of leg room. And even less fun than that is sitting in the row behind the exit row and having the person in front of you flaunt his extra space by leaning his seat as far back as possible, the tray table threatening to jab you in the stomach. The exit row lean-back is quite a slap in the face, but is it unethical?

When I travel, I try to keep from leaning back because I know how it feels to have someone leaning back in to me. I guess you could say that I try to live by rules that I feel should apply universal to everyone, a concept called the categorical imperative. Though some people would like to lean back, that represents an intrusion to others, so the best thing is for everyone to keep his fingers off the recline button.

Of course, many arguments can be made for a universal lean-back allowance. The value gained by the leaner is greater than the loss suffered by the leanee, so leaning back makes a lot of sense from a utilitarian (the greatest good for the greatest number) standpoint, so long as you're not in the very back row. A consequentialist would argue that you can lean back as long as the person behind you is not exceptionally tall. But how does all of this affect the exit row?

I think a lot of the exit row lean-back mentality depends on how you believe you landed in the exit row, as well as how long you plan to stay there. If you see it as a lottery, a mechanism that more or less randomly assigns the exit row and can take it away just as easily, I can see how you would be content with all of your extra space and won't try to grab any more. ("There but for the grace of Sabre go I.") If, on the other hand, you view your placement as a result of early purchasing, high airline miles, and years of hard work, you might be less sympathetic to those who have yet to pay their dues.

If the lean-back decision is an ethical choice, it isn't much of one (which is to say that it is not very consequential), but I do think that our airline behavior serves as one obvious example of how poorly we can behave when we are around people we never expect to see again. So the next time you're flying, don't tie up too much of everyone else's time wedging a too big carry-on into the overhead, don't clog the area leading to the jetway if your group hasn't yet been called, and, if you find yourself in an exit row and see my smiling face immediately behind you, please resist the temptation to grab some superfluous space.