Nope. Non-starter. My claustrophobia would drive me nuts by Phoenix. Just the illusion of open space by my elbow is enough to keep it in check. But crammed in next to a wall by smelly, unkempt barbarians? Ugh.
The aisle does afford at least one leg to be stretched out straight, although it does become necessary to be wary of that cart, granted.
I need the aisle for my other leg. I do feel sorry for the people who have to sit next to me. But not that much, I still get the armrests.
Another thing I’ll do to inconsiderate seat-lowerers who smack my knees is to open and close my tray table with extreme vigor. Frequently. At odd and unexpected intervals.
That’s ridiculous.
And effective.
ETA: Is “ridiculous” your word of the day or what?
I think we’ve found a new SDMB meme here. Watch out avatars and tipping.
Once I got stuck on a seven-hour transatlantic flight in front of a feisty Chinese grandma who began vigorously beating the top of my seat every time I tried to lean back. The idea is that EVERYBODY leans back and then we all get our space back, right? No dice. Even the stewardess couldn’t convince grandma to relent. I had to spend the flight with my seat up, and the person in front of me reclined into my lap.
I have never heard of airplane seats that lean back far enough to touch the person behind them. They don’t lean back very far in my traveling experience.
Good God! Old ladies are evil aren’t they? I would have reclined and broken her knees.
I don’t tip my seat back either. I am not unduly tall, so i can manage, and it’s not like those flights aren’t uncomfortable enough already.
Yes, people do sometimes lean back in front of me.
I feel juvenile to even say this, but once I sat in an aisle seat next to an incredibly handsome, young, nice-smelling, well-dressed Englishman. I confess with shame that I had absolutely no problem with his knee resting against mine or his arm against mine. :o
Let’s go down to the quarry and ridiculous.
Indeed.
I felt that cuniculous didn’t fit the tone of the discussion, to this point.
I will do everything in my power to get a window seat so I can curl in my corner and hide. An aisle seat is marginally ok, but a middle seat is near torture for me. I do sit all crammed and scrunched so I don’t have to touch anyone, and I usually end up with complete body cramp. I will admit to reclining my seat just one teeny notch, just a titch past vertical. Usually that’s to keep claustrophobia at bay when the person in front ratchets theirs all the way back.
I did once discover that a loud series of sneezes just over the recliner’s head will convince them to sit up 
Someone near me had really bad cologne or perfume on, and it set me off. I sneezed my way through the 1st half of that flight, but at least I didn’t have the seat in my lap.
I get more claustrophobic in the aisle seat than the window. In the aisle I’m stuck in a tin can with a bunch of people. In the window seat I have all of the great outdoors to enjoy.
I’ll tell you guys claustrophobia. I’ve flown to India four times (not counting emigrating here, I was too young to remember that one). That’s an eight or ten hour flight over the Atlantic, followed by another ten hour flight into Delhi. You get a 2 hour layover somewhere in Europe, depending on the airline.
In the meantime you are crammed into a 747 jumbo jet (or whatever they use now, it’s been a while). The seats are tiny and there are about 900 milion people on the flight.
There’s a direct, nonstop flight. I think it’s like 15 hours. I fail to see how that is any better, now you are stuck in this same smelly plane for 15 hours.
The last time I flew back it was on Air France. We had serious turbulence on the way over the Atlantic. I rarely get sick on planes but everyone was getting sick around me, and the smell got to me. There is no place to run, no place to hide or escape. It’s awful.
I never mind the short-ish flights I take nowadays.
Just shove 'em.
Wait. Are you being serious? Your arm doesn’t fit on the armrest?
Remind me again why teleportation devices are immoral?
I’m a small person and don’t recline my seat back either. I would be happy if the reclining feature were removed from airplane seats.
Whose brilliant idea was it to put video game panels in the backs of seats? I can’t remember what airline that was, but what annoyance to have the young man fiercely poking the screen all through the flight.
I usually rest my magazine on top of the head of the person who reclines back into my space. If they complain I apologize, count to 10, and then rest it on their head again. Rinse and repeat until they leave my airspace.