Silly question. Sometimes I get to wondering about things.

Flying has become an ordeal rather than the pleasure it used to be, IMO, partly because you're jammed into the seats.

So, for flights of, say, four hours or less, if they had one section with the adjustable seat backs and another where the seats were all straight up or just one niche reclined, which would you pick?

(The tradeoff of not being able to recline would be that the person in front of you wouldn't be reclining into you.)

I'd pick that everyone has to sit straight up, period! Never fails, as soon as I sit down the person in front of me reclines and I can't get out of my seat without holding onto the back of their seat. They always turn around and glare at me but how about me having my meal tray titled and my food slipping all over the place. Last flight to CA DH thought we'd outfox them buy requesting the seats in the middle of the plane by the exit door. There used to be a wide space by that door so you could stretch out your legs. Well, that's gone as they put 2 staight up seats in that space and if we had an emergency I would have been the person to open the hatch and help everyone to get out. May in Jersey

I am so short that it isn't ever a problem. I do have to recline my seat for flights longer than an hour or I get horrible back aches. I have had the person behind me complain that he could not use his lap tray when my seat was reclined. I offered to put it up for an hour and back for an hour during the 4 1/2 hour flight. He said no, to just leave it up. So, I left it reclined and napped on and off during the flight. I figured that I was trying to be nice and accomodating but, A lap tray to me is just a luxury...someone else's physical ailments should come first. I do tell my seatmates to feel free to stretch their feet/legs over in front of me, as mine barely touch the ground lol... and many of them do and appreciate it too.
I had a business class seat once when I was bumped, I could have stretched my legs out fully and barely touched the wall in front of me... On many of the flights I have been on many of these have been empty.
I think that they cram you in like sardines...My complaint is not having enough elbow room if you get stuck in a middle seat. I only did that once and was elbowed from both sides the entire 4+ hour flight... Never again :roll:

I'd pick the straight-up seat because that's how I prefer to sit, also because I hate having people recline in front of me.

I wasn't suggesting reclining seats should be done away with, only thinking that maybe they could make one section of reclining seats and one of straight-up seats and let passengers choose, the way you can choose between window and aisle seats.

I just wondered what everyone would choose if they had the choice. Not out to blame people.

IMO, the real solution is to make seats larger and spaced farther apart. In the airport as well as on the plane.

I never recline because I feel like I'm stealing someone else's space. I tend to set huddled in my tiny little seat trying not to touch anyone else's space. I'd set in the window sill to keep from touching a stranger next to me if it were possible.

our next flight will be from new jersey to anchorage. it won't matter how i sit. i'll be folded like origami when i get there. i hope i don't have to pee. that's worse than sitting. AND have you ever noticed that you always get seated between two huge-shouldered people, so there's no room for you at all?

Having to sit straight up kills my back, so I am a recliner.

I like to sit up straight, but as I am rather large I need for the seat in front of me to be straight up also. Fortunately, I have not had any problems, but I would rather drive for a couple of days if I can rather than fly.

No doubt about it. No reclining seats. Either the person in front reclines and invades your space, or you feel like you can't recline for fear of doing the same to the person behind you.

To recline, or not, that is the question. I don't usually recline (and I've logged thousands of miles!). If I try to recline, I feel as if I'm going to slide out of the seat.

As for those who do recline, I'd like for them to spend some time in my seat...having to look at the top of their seat, 6" from my face. Furthermore, I don't need to be able to count the hairs comprising your comb-over, your bald spot, see the oil glisten off your hair, or have your dandruff flakes in the foreground.

I'm one of those who believes that all seats on the plane should be permanently locked in the upright position. I have spent too many hours with a seat back in my face to have any tolerance for reclining seats.

I never understood the actions of individuals who insist on leaving their seat all the way reclined, when they're eating a meal on their tray. (You can tell I've been flying for years as meals have become extinct in coach) That's just rude and certainly qualifies as encroachment onto the poor schlub behind them.

Here's a solution I've used, especially on transcontinental and flights to/ from Europe. You wanna recline so you can sleep? Well, get ready 'cause I'm going to have a very active bladder and I WILL use your seat back as a handle that I have to shake on my way to the toilet. Wake up, Sleeping Beauty. Time for a potty break. Don't go back to sleep, either, cause I'll shake, rattle, and roll your seat back when I return. Guaranteed.

I've also been known to literally put my foot against the back of the seat in front of me. No way you're going to put that seat back in my face. I even had a arrogant, self-ablsorbed yahoo threaten to hit me if I didn't let his seat recline. I told him to go ahead. (He didn't scare me. I had confronted pickpockets in Rome on that trip and got my husband's wallet back! Some yahoo in a suit on a plane didn't intimidate me.) The flight attendant told him to sit down and be quiet. He did eventually recline, but I sure as H-E- ** made his trip miserable after he did, as we were flying from Rome to San Francisco.

...and don't even get me started on the behavior of people whose seat is further back in coach, but put their stuff (and I cleaned up that!), in the overhead bins at the front of the cabin and then head on to their seat. "We all have to share the space." First off, it shouldn't even be necessary to make that announcement! Second, all of those people should be seated next to an overflowing toilet or to another passenger who just came off a 3-day wilderness camping trip and was still in their hiking clothes and shoes. Or, one who is prone to prolonged bouts of air sickness whereby they use all those little bag...repeatedly. Sweet.

Solution to the problem: If you have the time and resources, make that 4-hour flight a road trip. You will be much happier...and, unless you're driving, you can recline the entire trip. %>)

If you do have to fly, just steel yourself for the trip and be sure to get an aisle seat!