EasyJet gives more leg room but no chance to kick back

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EasyJet has announced new seat installations to give passengers two inches of additional legroom. At around 31 inches, its new planes will be roomier than Wizz Air and Tui. The kicker is that, unlike most long-haul carriers, the seats won’t recline. Fixed seats, which have become an increasingly common sight on short flights, are regarded as a way to reduce passenger disputes. Flight attendants are trained to deal with reclining conflicts, but typically not to cast judgement on who has the right to the space behind one passenger and in front of another. “By not making it clear who controls the recline space,” a law school professor told Radiolab in 2022, “they get to sell that space twice on every seat on every flight.” At least EasyJet is up front about things: what you pay for is what you get.