Delta reduces seat tilt to reduce in-flight conflicts

(CNN) – As I was taking the Delta Air Lines flight from Chicago to Atlanta on a bus on Thursday, I spent a few minutes guessing whether the tall man in front of me would tilt his seat.

I wanted to work, but if it was resting while I was writing, my laptop might not survive it.

As planes put passengers in smaller seats with reduced personal space, feeding this laptop can be a risky bet: will the person in front of you tilt their seat? And if they do, will they do it so quickly that your laptop will suffer?

Starting Saturday, April 13, Delta will upgrade its fleet of 62 Airbus A320 aircraft to reduce the tilt of coach seats from 4 inches to 2 inches and tilt first class seats by 5 , 5 inches to 3.5 inches.

Although the airline may feel like giving an extra seat to an already tight plane, airline officials promise that it is not what they do.

"As part of Delta's ongoing efforts to make the flight experience more enjoyable, Delta is testing a small modification of its A320, adjusting the tilt to facilitate multitasking," Savannah Huddleston told CNN Travel , spokesman for Delta.

"With this test, Delta does not have the intention of adding seats or reducing the space between the rows. customers' personal space and minimize interruptions during multitasking tasks in flight. "

This is not a bad change, really

Frequent travelers are already grateful. Really, they are.

"My business being a loyal traveler, my productivity dies just when the person in front of me drops me on my lap," said aviation safety consultant Jeff Price.

"With the narrow room that airlines offer you for your legs, I can not even sit in the normal seats with my legs facing forward.I have to turn them to the side, and that's it. Is worse when the seat comes down. "

Mayerowitz agrees.

"Nowadays, passengers are so caught in planes that any invasion of our personal space is magnified, and tilting of seats is one of those trigger points that easily lead to conflicts between passengers" , he told CNN Travel.

"We're just trying to relax and give ourselves some extra space while the person behind them is suddenly struggling with the feeling that the world is getting closer to them."

Delta typically operates the A320 on short to medium-haul routes of one to two hours on average, frequented by business travelers, Huddleston said.."That's what makes the A320 an ideal candidate for this test," she said.

"I had just flown last week on Iberia Express between Madrid and Seville and I noticed that their seats did not have a tilt button, and I thought that I would not be able to do it. it would be nice if US carriers start doing the same, "he said.

It will take about two months for Delta to modernize the entire A320 fleet.

And if the shift works for Delta, Mayerowitz predicted that other American airlines would follow.