Delta CEO: ‘I never recline’ as airline reduces seat recline on some planes
Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian believes passengers have a right to lean their seats back though the airline has reduced seat recline on some planes.
"I never recline," CEO Ed Bastian said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" Friday morning. But, "I think customers have the right to recline."
He said Delta has been testing reduced-recline seats and is using them on a “a fair amount of our fleet.”
Bastian made the comments after being asked about his thoughts on a video circulating from an American Airlines flight of a passenger repeatedly punching the seat of a woman who had reclined hers in front of him.
“I think the proper thing to do is, if you’re going to recline into somebody that you ask if it’s OK first, and then you do it,” he said on Squawk Box.
Bastian, who says he likes to sit in coach class, added that he does not recline -- “and I never say anything if someone reclines into me.”
About the Author
As business team lead, Kelly Yamanouchi edits and writes business stories. She graduated from Harvard and has a master's degree from Northwestern.
