If you're hoping to nab the contentious Knee Defender to protect your legroom on your next international flight, think again: the seat-jamming device is prohibited by Canada's two major airlines.
Air Canada and WestJet say the seat-locking Knee Defender is not allowed on their flights.
Calgary, Alta.-based WestJet specifically names the Knee Defender on its list of unapproved carryon items. "You are not permitted to attach any unapproved device to any part of your seat or any other part of the aircraft," the WestJet website says. "Some examples of unapproved devices include knee defenders, seat belt extensions and booster seats."
The Knee Defender is also prohibited on Air Canada flights, an airline spokesperson said.
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However, it hasn't been officially outlawed by Transport Canada or the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States. Both organizations say they leave that up to the airlines to determine.
What is the Knee Defender?
The Knee Defender is a little clamp that attaches to an airline seat's tray table, jamming the mechanism on the seat in front and preventing the passenger sitting there from leaning back. The $22 tool is marketed online as a way to protect your legroom on an airplane.
On Sunday, a United Airlines flight diverted from its destination to make an unscheduled landing after two passengers got into a heated argument over use of the Knee Defender.
A man had used the device to jam the seat in front of him, locking it in the upright position. The woman sitting in the seat didn't like that, so she called a flight attendant.
When the flight attendant asked the man to remove the device, he refused. The woman sitting in front then threw a cup of water at him.
The Newark-to-Denver flight landed in Chicago to kick both passengers off the plane. No charges were laid against the passengers, and Chicago police dismissed the case as a "customer service issue."
United Airlines prohibits the use of the Knee Defender. It's also prohibited on most other major American airlines.
Knee Defender inventor Ira Goldman says the United Airlines incident is the first he's heard of in the 11 years since he invented the device. "Knee Defenders aren't about getting more space," he told CTV News Channel. "They're about stopping somebody from moving and hitting you."
On Sunday, a fight between two passengers over personal space, a thrown cup of water and the use of a controversial plastic gadget that prevents airline seats from reclining caused United Airlines Flight 1462 from Newark, N.J., to Denver to divert to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, the AP reports.
During the flight, a man seated in the Economy Plus section, which offers four more inches of legroom than other coach seats, was reportedly using a $21.95 gadget called a Knee Defender to prevent the woman seated in front of him from reclining her seat.
While the Federal Aviation Administration does not prohibit the use of the Knee Defender, like most other major U.S. airlines, "we do not allow customers to use devices that prevent seats from reclining," said United Airlines spokesman Charles Hobart via e-mail.
The woman whose seat could not recline stood up and threw a cup of water at the Knee Defender user, a law enforcement official told AP, and soon after United made the decision to land the plane in Chicago.
"Authorities met the aircraft, removed the two passengers and the flight continued to Denver shortly afterwards," said Hobart.
No arrests were made because the incident "was deemed a customer service issue and not a threat to aviation security," said Transportation Security Administration spokesman Ross Feinstein.
"Sometimes people do things they shouldn't do on airplanes, but as far as I know this is the first time anything like this has happened," involving the Knee Defender, said Ira Goldman, the man who invented the device in 2003 and continues to sell it online.
http://www.agan.com.au/UserProfile/tabid/57/userId/445/Default.aspx
"United could make seats that do not recline, but they have not chosen to do so," said Goldman. "In the meantime, the Knee Defender says right on it: 'Be courteous. Do not hog space. Listen to the flight crew.' Apparently that is not what happened here."
Nobody over six feet tall is surprised that a couple of passengers got into a fight on a United flight from Newark to Denver over the use of a gadget called Knee Defender — two small, wedge-like devices that prevent the seat in front of you from reclining. The passenger using the device, a guy seated in a middle row, refused to remove it when the woman seated in front of him tried to recline. Words were exchanged; then a cup of water was hurled aft. The flight was diverted to Chicago, and the two were removed.
I don’t travel with a Knee Defender, but I do travel with knees. Just being an airline passengers makes everyone cranky to begin with. Being 6 ft. 2 in. and long of leg, I’m in a near rage by the time I wedge myself into a coach seat. And now you want to jam your chair back into my knees for four hours? Go fly a kite. It’s an airline seat, not a lounge chair. You want comfort, buy a business class seat. What’s surprising is that there haven’t been more fights over Knee Defender. Or perhaps these incidents haven’t been reported. I’ve gotten into it a few times with people in front of me who insist that the space over my knees is theirs, as if they have some kind of air rights. And I’m sure I will again.
United says it has a no Knee Defender policy, although the device is allowable on other carriers. My own knee defense is this: As soon as the seatbelt sign goes off and people are free to annoy me, I wedge my knees against the seat in front of me. Any attempted move back is met with resistance. (Very good exercise, too.) At first, the person in front thinks there’s something wrong with his chair and tries again, meeting like resistance. Then there’s that backward glance, and the dirty look. I smile and say: “Sorry, those are my knees. And I’m not moving them.” Secretly I am saying, “If you try to move that seat back again I’m going over the top of your chair and strangling you.” Did I mention that flying is infuriating?
Air Canada and WestJet say the seat-locking Knee Defender is not allowed on their flights.
Calgary, Alta.-based WestJet specifically names the Knee Defender on its list of unapproved carryon items. "You are not permitted to attach any unapproved device to any part of your seat or any other part of the aircraft," the WestJet website says. "Some examples of unapproved devices include knee defenders, seat belt extensions and booster seats."
The Knee Defender is also prohibited on Air Canada flights, an airline spokesperson said.
http://plasmedia.com/UserProfile/tabid/57/userId/136753/Default.aspx
However, it hasn't been officially outlawed by Transport Canada or the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States. Both organizations say they leave that up to the airlines to determine.
What is the Knee Defender?
The Knee Defender is a little clamp that attaches to an airline seat's tray table, jamming the mechanism on the seat in front and preventing the passenger sitting there from leaning back. The $22 tool is marketed online as a way to protect your legroom on an airplane.
On Sunday, a United Airlines flight diverted from its destination to make an unscheduled landing after two passengers got into a heated argument over use of the Knee Defender.
A man had used the device to jam the seat in front of him, locking it in the upright position. The woman sitting in the seat didn't like that, so she called a flight attendant.
When the flight attendant asked the man to remove the device, he refused. The woman sitting in front then threw a cup of water at him.
The Newark-to-Denver flight landed in Chicago to kick both passengers off the plane. No charges were laid against the passengers, and Chicago police dismissed the case as a "customer service issue."
United Airlines prohibits the use of the Knee Defender. It's also prohibited on most other major American airlines.
Knee Defender inventor Ira Goldman says the United Airlines incident is the first he's heard of in the 11 years since he invented the device. "Knee Defenders aren't about getting more space," he told CTV News Channel. "They're about stopping somebody from moving and hitting you."
On Sunday, a fight between two passengers over personal space, a thrown cup of water and the use of a controversial plastic gadget that prevents airline seats from reclining caused United Airlines Flight 1462 from Newark, N.J., to Denver to divert to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, the AP reports.
During the flight, a man seated in the Economy Plus section, which offers four more inches of legroom than other coach seats, was reportedly using a $21.95 gadget called a Knee Defender to prevent the woman seated in front of him from reclining her seat.
While the Federal Aviation Administration does not prohibit the use of the Knee Defender, like most other major U.S. airlines, "we do not allow customers to use devices that prevent seats from reclining," said United Airlines spokesman Charles Hobart via e-mail.
The woman whose seat could not recline stood up and threw a cup of water at the Knee Defender user, a law enforcement official told AP, and soon after United made the decision to land the plane in Chicago.
"Authorities met the aircraft, removed the two passengers and the flight continued to Denver shortly afterwards," said Hobart.
No arrests were made because the incident "was deemed a customer service issue and not a threat to aviation security," said Transportation Security Administration spokesman Ross Feinstein.
"Sometimes people do things they shouldn't do on airplanes, but as far as I know this is the first time anything like this has happened," involving the Knee Defender, said Ira Goldman, the man who invented the device in 2003 and continues to sell it online.
http://www.agan.com.au/UserProfile/tabid/57/userId/445/Default.aspx
"United could make seats that do not recline, but they have not chosen to do so," said Goldman. "In the meantime, the Knee Defender says right on it: 'Be courteous. Do not hog space. Listen to the flight crew.' Apparently that is not what happened here."
Nobody over six feet tall is surprised that a couple of passengers got into a fight on a United flight from Newark to Denver over the use of a gadget called Knee Defender — two small, wedge-like devices that prevent the seat in front of you from reclining. The passenger using the device, a guy seated in a middle row, refused to remove it when the woman seated in front of him tried to recline. Words were exchanged; then a cup of water was hurled aft. The flight was diverted to Chicago, and the two were removed.
I don’t travel with a Knee Defender, but I do travel with knees. Just being an airline passengers makes everyone cranky to begin with. Being 6 ft. 2 in. and long of leg, I’m in a near rage by the time I wedge myself into a coach seat. And now you want to jam your chair back into my knees for four hours? Go fly a kite. It’s an airline seat, not a lounge chair. You want comfort, buy a business class seat. What’s surprising is that there haven’t been more fights over Knee Defender. Or perhaps these incidents haven’t been reported. I’ve gotten into it a few times with people in front of me who insist that the space over my knees is theirs, as if they have some kind of air rights. And I’m sure I will again.
United says it has a no Knee Defender policy, although the device is allowable on other carriers. My own knee defense is this: As soon as the seatbelt sign goes off and people are free to annoy me, I wedge my knees against the seat in front of me. Any attempted move back is met with resistance. (Very good exercise, too.) At first, the person in front thinks there’s something wrong with his chair and tries again, meeting like resistance. Then there’s that backward glance, and the dirty look. I smile and say: “Sorry, those are my knees. And I’m not moving them.” Secretly I am saying, “If you try to move that seat back again I’m going over the top of your chair and strangling you.” Did I mention that flying is infuriating?
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