I’ve twice had people very abruptly fully recline their seats while my meal tray was still extended. In neither case were the results pleasing and both times I was much less than polite about the situation.
Yes, it is rude as all hell to fully recline one’s seat.
No, the tray is attached to the part of the seat that doesn’t recline. Reclining the seat does not recline the persons tray, but it does restrict their space at a time when they need it the most.
I have always reclined and not been bothered by people in front of me reclining, however I’m changing my views on this and now normally only recline if there’s no one behind me or if it is an exit row behind me (the row in front of the exit row does recline on some aircraft.)
I more bothered by lack of shoulder room than people reclining and normally try and get an exit row with no one next to me.
I have never been bothered by the person in front of me reclining and recline as needed. If the person behind me were in a non-reclining seat or extremely tall and they politely asked me to not recline, I’d be fine with that.
I’m 6’3". I automatically expect whoever is in front of me to recline and so try to stay on guard for it. I’ll recline only partially if someone is sitting behind me; never all the way unless no one is back there.
I’ve never had anyone ask me not to recline, but I suppose I would not recline if anyone did ask me not to.
I’ve always seen “reclined” as the normal position, and “upright” (just about leaning forward) as just a safety precaution for take-off and landing. I never really thought about why that’s safer. I remember once flying to or from London. My mother was knitting, and the flight attendant asked the person in front of her to put his seat forward so that she’d have room. We found this very odd.
I’m rather small, so I’m not too bothered by the recline. I can absolutely see how an average-to-large person would be in hell during the recline.
The real question is, exactly who did they think would be occupying the seats of the plane when they designed the layout? I think I’d be almost afraid to fly if I were a taller person. The claustrophobia must be agonizing.
(Yes, I realize it’s all about the Benjamins…it still strikes me as bordering on ridiculous to put people in that position for hours on end.)
No way! I will sit upright the entire trip but I must have the armrest up the entire length of the flight. If I don’t it digs into my hip and then the person next to me is forced to listen to me make bitching noises the entire time. Trust me, it is better for everyone if I can have the armrest up.
I don’t fly very often, but when I do it’s usually a long distance flight, so I really can’t imagine not reclining for the entire flight. I do think it’s rude to recline during meal times; it’s hard to eat with someone’s head in your lap. When the lights go down and everyone is expected to be sleeping, I don’t see any problem fully reclining. The only way I can get away from the reclined person in front of me is by reclining myself, so it’s kind of self-defense.
Yes, why IS that “safer”? Are lives ever actually saved because their seat is not slightly reclined? Has anyone died specifically because the sneaky bastard kept it slightly reclined?
I think that, like most rights, it’s OK until the arm you’re swinging hits my nose. If the person in front of me reclines his seat, they are taking up part of my already-too-limited space; they’re making it harder for me to read a book and impossible to use my laptop. So I definitely prefer it if they don’t. But then, I also prefer it if the person behind me will [growl]kindly[/growl] refrain from sticking their knees on my back.
I guess you could say I do have a personal issue with people who think they own the space I paid for.
Sam, if the plane bounces, who’s more likely to hit the seat in front with his face, the person who’s behind a reclined seat or the one behind a vertical seat? There’s your answer!
Aha! So it’s safer for the person behind you and not for you? Thanks. I never thought of that. I honestly could never understand why my seat being upright was good for me.
I’m also on the small side of things, and I still find airplanes barely comfortable to ride in. If I have a carry-on under the seat in front, I can’t stretch my legs at all, the seats in coach really aren’t that wide (fine for me, but I’m thinner than most adults), and there’s no way to comfortably lean back. Overall I just feel horribly confined, and I don’t even take up that much space.
You could always fight back. 
http://www.gadgetduck.com/goods/kneedefender.html
I’m a 6’ tall woman with a 36" inseam, which means I have very long legs. If you recline your seat all the way, you will be hitting my knees and it will be painful for me. It’s not just inconvenient or uncomfortable, it hurts. So that ‘personal issue’ that leads me to dig my knees into your back is the fact that my legs aren’t retractable. If you hear me making noise behind you, it’s because I’m whimpering.
Not only do I think it rude, I think it’s very inconsiderate, and probably unnecessary, as well. If I can live through the flight without putting my seat back, I sincerely doubt you need to put yours back.
Interestingly, I’ve been on a lot of flights with other tall or very tall people and noticed that the majority do not put their seats back. Do unto others, and all that, I suspect.
It doesn’t trouble me. The abrupt recline has smashed my knees once and caught my laptop screen in the edge of the tray table’s storage slot twice. Still, it’s never occurred to me that people shouldn’t recline, since this is an included, and highly utilized, function of the seat.
The space on most airlines as been squeezed and squeezed until one has to literally crawl over other people or ask them to vacate in order to crawl over their seats to get to the aisle. I try to give airlines with so little space very consistent feedback that their choice to cram more seats in dissuades me from flying with them more frequently.
The person in front of me has the right to recline their seat into my space. Of course, I have the right to aim the freezing air nozzle at their head. We usually reach an understanding after a few minutes.
I would rather the person in front of me not recline. But since it is something the airlines allow, it is not a surprise when people do it. It annoys me, but I don’t think of the person as rude.
I guess I think it a tad rude, because the recliner knows they are making things less comfortable for the person behind them. But on the scale of rudeness one encounters regularly, it is pretty low. And the damned seats are pretty uncomfortable in the first place that I’m not going to make a big deal out of them becoming a tad moreso.
I’m 6’3" and I never recline my seat, mainly because I don’t care to unnecessarily inflict even a little discomfort on the person behind me. And the minimal increase in comfort I would derive is in no way sufficient to warrant that.
But like folks say, if you want to be pissed at anyone, be pissed at the airlines that allow such seats.
Why would crushing the knees of the person in back of you not be rude?
It’s really the airlines’ fault for not putting enough space between the rows, but as it stands, there isn’t enough room for people to able to recline very far without invading the already very limited space of the passengers behind them. Therefore, only douchebags recline.
I check to see who is behind me before I recline. If it’s a kid or an empty seat, I go for it, but if it’s a normal sized adult, I don’t.