Gadget that stops the passenger in front from reclining their seat sees soaring sales
Sales soar for gadget that prevents aircraft seats reclining after mid-flight skirmish in the US
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 27 August, 2014, 9:25pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 28 August, 2014, 9:55am
Bloomberg in Chicago
A sneaky device that blocks aircraft seats from reclining has received a global boost after a scuffle between two passengers forced a flight in the US to make an unscheduled landing.
The Knee Defender hit headlines because of an in-flight squabble on United Airlines flight 1462, which had to touch down in Chicago en route to Denver from Newark, New Jersey. One person installed the device that prevented the woman in front of him from reclining, said Charlie Hobart from United.
Upset that her seat was being deliberately locked, the woman eventually threw water at the man, who had refused to remove the device at the request of a flight attendant. The man was using a laptop computer at the time.
"Both passengers were very disruptive and failed to follow flight crew instructions," said Chicago police officer Ron Gaines.
Neither was arrested. Both were in United's Economy Plus section, which offers 13cm more legroom than regular economy.
The gadget is a pair of U-shaped clips that fit over the arms of the seat-back tray table, preventing the passenger in front leaning back. The US Federal Aviation Administration prohibits the use of such devices during taxiing, take-offs and landings, when tray tables must be stowed. The agency said on Tuesday that airlines could decide whether they wanted to allow such devices while cruising.
The website of the gadget's inventor, Ira Goldman, crashed after traffic surged, and sales rose "substantially" for the US$21.95 plastic clips that have been on the market since 2003.
While a product that interferes with another flier's comfort may rub some people up the wrong way, the issue is airlines' legroom cutbacks, Goldman said. Airlines are shrinking space between rows - Spirit Airlines' allotment is about 10 per cent less than the industry standard - and using thinner cushions to squeeze more people into economy class cabins.
"They don't have Plan B for the fact that a lot of people, when they sit down in their seat at the gate, their knees already are hitting the seat back in front of them," Goldman said.
The four largest US carriers - American Airlines, United, Delta and Southwest - all bar the use of the Knee Defender. Cathay Pacific said it doesn't have a policy on the issue and is still evaluating the situation.
Goldman said he did not know exactly which airlines allowed the defender and which did not.
A 1.9-metre tall entrepreneur and lawyer, Goldman said he got the idea for the Knee Defender around 1998 while flying. He took out an umbrella and laid it across the arms of his tray table, noticing that it prevented the seat ahead of him tilting back. He dusted off the idea a couple of years later at the urging of friends.
Soon, he said, he was asking acquaintances to test his invention in flight. One put down her tray table, took out 10 prototypes of his Knee Defender and started experimenting on the seat back of the person in front of her.
Another day, Goldman was going through an airport checkpoint and was asked to empty his carry-on luggage for a random screening. A Transportation Security Administration employee looked quizzically at him.
"'What is this?'" Goldman recounted the TSA worker as asking. "I explained it, and he smiled and sent me on my way."
Goldman said he sourced the Knee Defender from a manufacturer in China. His only advertising expense was US$1.25 to test some Google ads. The product's controversial nature generates its own publicity, said Goldman.
He would not disclose annual sales or personal details such as his age, but added: "It keeps the lights on. We sell these things."
Goldman firmly believes that legroom cutbacks are the problem, not his gadget or the people who use it. He says he is just calling attention to industry practices. "I was the kid who says, 'The emperor's not wearing any clothes'. He's naked."
Additional reporting by McClatchy-Tribune
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