Haha, you know most people like their civil engineers to have a good education. Something about your health and welfare depending on it. But hey, you are right. I should be out there designing your water treatment plant right now! A little giardiasis never hurt anyone.
Despite your advice, I will continue to fly. Since I have never had someone get angry when they couldn’t put their seat down because of my knees, it’s probably safe to say that I haven’t been behind you 
That’s what ‘full-time’ student means? I didn’t sign up for that.
The seats were designed to do that when the airlines left a reasonable amount of space, before they crammed in extra rows to make more money per flight.
Each passenger gets a certain (inadequate) amount of space. Those who recline increase their’s at the expense of those behind them, who have no alternative but to take it, kick the crap out of your back, or do the same to the person behind them. Taking more than their fair share is rude and selfish.
Recline as far as you want until you can feel the person behind you resisting. I tend to recline slightly at first, and then every few minutes slightly more. I always try to be as inconspicuous as possible. If the person in front of me is getting uncomfortably close, I use my knees to prevent them from reclining any further. Ideally they will assume that they are at the seat’s reclining limit.
If possible, I get a window seat so I don’t have to recline all the way. Leaning against the side of the plane is more comfortable than reclining IMO. I’ve got a 7.5-hour flight tomorrow night, so I’ll see if I can get a decent reclining angle in addition to my window seat.
I know this won’t matter to anyone else but me, but I made an error. I’ve actually been on **18 ** flights this year, not 14. The rest of my statement is still correct.
However the tray becomes unusable if there is no clearance above it for a laptop or even to write, not to mention trying to eat that way.
Great, get as much education as you desire. Just dont think it entitles you to anything more than Joe the plumber sitting in front of you, including that tiny little cube of space on a plane you both paid the same amount for. And another newsflash for you - flying is miserable, from the moment you try to find parking at the airport to the minute you leave the curb of your final destination, it sucks. And if it doesn’t , it’s because you’ve paid good money to make sure it doesn’t suck! Thats the way the airlines set it up. You don’t like it, take it up with them. Until then, suck it up bucko.
It doesn’t matter, in fact a recliner is easier to tolerate on a short flight. I often fly up and down the West Coast, and those are often just over an hour. For long ones, or for sleeping, I recline just enough to get my head lined up with something reasonable on the window, which is usually not enough to bother anyone. I can’t sleep in an aisle seat at all.
I always check with the person behind me. Reclining will intrude on their space, especially if they’re working on a laptop or something. If they say they don’t mind I recline, if they do mind I don’t. It’s just being courteous.
Funny. I’ve never had a miserable flight in my life and I’ve always sat in coach. A few months ago I flew 12 hours nonstop to Israel and had no issues whatsoever. Sounds like you go in looking to become upset.
It’s rude when I’m behind, not when I sit on it
Now really, it’s very *unpleasant when the seat in front of you is reclined during the whole 10 hour flight.
*some would use a more picturesque vocabulary
Flying from Alaska, no flight I ever take is under 3.5 hours. I never recline, unless there is no one behind me. I do see it as rude. I’m 6’ tall and could certainly benefit from the bit of extra room, but I can’t stand it when people recline on me, especially when trying to do work on the laptop. I can’t sleep on airplanes anyway without the use of ambien, and reclining (except in the pod things on international first class…those are awesome) doesn’t provide enough extra room to make any difference anyway.
I’m trying to figure if I would find this more or less annoying than someone simply slamming their seat pack all the way. Hard to imagine how ANY reline is inconspicuous to the person behind you. I can imagine the seat in front of me reclining a bit, and I’d think “Damn - they’re reclining. But at least they aren’t being as much of an ashole as they might.” Then a couple of minutes later they recline a tad more, and then a tad more…
By all means, keep doing whatever works for you. Just wanted to let you know the person behind might not appreciate your actions the same way you wish.
Long haul flyer here. I usually recline a bit- just enough to get a bit more comfy. Reclining all the way is only for sleeping and it’s never, ever okay to recline while eating.
You know I just don’t get your attitude.
But I have to say its attitudes like this that make me glad I can stop people from reclining completely and they have no choice in the matter. Of course my ability is help by the painkillers I take just to deal with the positions that I have to bend into to fit on some of the planes I fly on. My company will only pay for coach and I don’t make enough money to pay for an upgrade myself and despite my quarterly flights I still haven’t earned enough frequent flyer miles to get a free upgrade.
I’m a bit surprised by the responses here. I find the person reclining in front of me annoying, but not rude.
I try not to recline too much, but I wouldn’t consider it rude if I did. The seat reclines. Use it at your discretion.
Reclining little is okay, but please for the love of all that is good, not all the way. I am a very tall girl, and I have had full-recliners just about send me insane with frustration.
I once spent 14 hours on a plane (aside from meal times) where the inconsiderate person in front of me reclined the whole way back. It rendered it impossible for me to see the tv screen on the seat in front of me, to use my laptop, to use my tray table to put a drink on and i was not able to even move my legs a little.
Just because you can do it, doesn’t mean you don’t have to take how it’s going to impact other people so lightly. Be aware of who’s around you and be considerate.
You guys just must be flying nicer airplanes that I am, because on the last several flights I’ve taken “omg he put his seat ALL THE WAY BACK” would mean that he put his seat a whole inch back. Of course if somebody said something I’d never recline, and I try to do it slowly, but seriously, it goes back such a tiny little way these days and can be such a comfort issue for my back that I’m really shocked so many people are calling it rude. That’s like saying that somebody next to you turning on their directed reading lamp and reading while you’re trying to take a nap on a plane is rude - it’s just one of those little airplane annoyances.
And the seat rest stays down. I don’t care who the hell you are, I do not want to accidentally touch you. If you put the seat rest up no matter how thin you are I could accidentally touch you. Hells no. The seat rest delineates my personal space, small as it is, on this airplane. It’s two inches less than they got on the Middle Passage, but it’s MINE and you will not remove our boundary marker.
This sums it up perfectly; down to the “douchebag” comment. What a truly wonderful and diverse noun.
Some of my earliest childhood memories of flying were my parents reminding me that reclining was rude. This was back when you got a generous half-foot out of the button. Today I still don’t feel usurping a few cubic inches of your seatmate (and, really, you -are- sharing the same seat) is particularly polite.
While we’re on the topic, though - what is it about airplane seats? Are they specifically designed by the acetaminophen manufacturers, or something? What’s with this hollow, sunken cavity where my nice, firm lumbar support should be? Oh, it’s all shoved up here around my shoulder blades so that my posture approximates Trogdor.
That’s when you save your packet of pepper from your meal and snort it, a little of a time, and sneeze repeatedly on the person’s head who is reclining in your lap.
You’re welcome.