The war over airplane legroom and reclining seats has escalated. Three flights were diverted recently after passengers got into an argument over reclining seats. One had to do with the use of a gadget called a Knee Defender. It clips on to your tray table and keeps the seat in front of you locked in place. The gadget does not violate any airline regulations but it prevents the seat in front of the user from reclining. On a full flight, economy class passengers are packed like sardines and the only way to get extra room is to recline the seat. If the person behind you is tall, he or she will have a problem with that.
The crux of the problem is that people are getting bigger, while airline economy seats are getting smaller. A comprehensive anthropometric study of airline seats and passengers showed that regular economy seats were at least two inches too narrow at shoulder level to accommodate American men comfortably in a full plane. Americans, as measured, were at least an inch wider than any other national or ethnic group studied. The anthropometric survey measured the bodies of 4,431 people in North America, the Netherlands and Italy and collected data ranging from height and weight to shoe and bra size. The data gave an accurate view of the variations in the human form but the measurements have not been used correctly by seat designers. The result is that the measurements don?t really account for different body shapes and variations in the way people sit. Seat manufacturers say that its possible to install seats in an aircraft so that everybody has sufficient knee and leg space, but here?s the catch: ticket prices would go up. Till this happens, seat-reclining will continue being a mid-air anxiety.