make them retract to a 70 degree angle. this way you could save space. then have low price tickets for passengers that travel standing in the isle. like a bus, that flies. and have super cheap rates for those willing to fly in the luggage compartments. great idea.

What you are looking for is the "Knee Defender", a block of plastic that attaches to your tray table,preventing the seat in front from reclining. It is $10 a pop at <a href= http://www.kneedefender.com/>www.kneedefender.com.

And wouldn't you know it? The inventor is 6-foot-4.

The plastic thing is a good idea, but I don't see why it should be necessary in the first place. I'd rather see the airlines just fix the problem by restricting the seat angle.

I could endure non-reclining seats if the design of the seat was changed such that my chin is no longer forced into my chest. I understand the seat is designed for safety reasons, but I've flown more than hundreds of thousands of miles over the past years and have never once been in a situation where that design would have helped.

certainly the recline feature should be disabled by the pilot at takeoff and landing, as an obstinate passenger can override all the "prodedures". Realistically, should not the coach sections adjust the seating per the height/weight of the passengers? could not this be a more radical, but elegant solution?

On long flights (especially in USA), the standard coach seat is a hell. I and others agree it couldn't be more uncomfortable if it was made of stone. I've heard that some international fights have something like bunk beds.I am not a "princess on a pea" and could sleep on a floor, but after a 6 hour flight I need to see a chiropractor!

That reminds me I once rode a bus that was modeled after an airplane with coach seats and overhead luggage bins, and I said, what idiot designed this?

How about a total ergonomic overhaul of plane seats?

Great idea; just copy the coach seat design used in Air Inter's Airbuses (Air Inter is a European feeder line). There are no adjustments at all. I believe the seat backs are tilted back somewhat more than a fully-upright US domestic coach class seat. Still not comfortable, but at least the person in front can't make it miserable for you. A side benefit for the airline is that weight and reliablity of the seats will be improved without the recline mechanism.

YES!Anyone who ever flies knows how to sleep without reclining the seat. And anyone who doesn't fly much and feels the need to recline the seat, shouldn't be making life hard for people who do fly a lot.

How about a compromise -- ine one half of the coach section, you can do whatever you want, in the other half, the coach sets won't recline?

I just let the person in front know that I have a problem, and ask for help. "Please, could you let me know before you recline the seat? Then I can get out of your way. Sorry for the inconvenience" No one has ever refused, or been nasty. Once in a while they forget, but, in all, it works pretty well.

It also lets them know that the stuff sticking out into their footwell is my feet, so they aren't as likely to start kicking at them.

Myself, I never, ever recline the seats -- being 6'4", the top of the seat hits me about the shoulder blades, so if I recline it, my head hangs down over the back. Solid comfort, that!

I never want to fly again. Haven't in five years, it's been terrific. Trains or boats for me.

Is there anyone that feels the seat are comfortable they way they are? Probably not, so whay not remove one row of seats from both sides. This would be a net loss of 6 passengers in most planes, but a net gain of an inch or two for every seat on the plane.

Of course we would bear the costs of a net 6 passenger loss, to the tune of 10 to 20 dollars per ticket. I would be willing to pay.

A clear externality issue. Do you make the feature users pay more (essentially requiring them to sit in an upgraded section) or those that do not want the feature used at their expense to pay more? Probably easiest to just disable the feature in coach, where everyone already is crammed in.

And what about when the seat behind you is vacant? Why not be allowed to recline then? One solution is to make the recliner compensate the reclinee for the inconvenience (e.g. take away the recliner's pretzels and give them to the reclinee). Another is to permit corporal punishment for knee-impingement (e.g. noogies). Then again, society could decide to restore some semblance of civility and manners to interpersonal interactions. Y'know: "please", "excuse me", and "I'm sorry".

Anyone knows why the airline seats need to be so bulky? There is no need to be individual seat video/telephone etc. A thin modern fire retardent seat should increase space-but the airlines should be forbidden from sqeezing more seats in to the created space.My fundamental question-are flight attendants really necessary? Can passenger volunteers be trained as safety volunteers. At present 99.99% of the time, they do nothing but closing doors, serving drinks, and flirting with passengers of their interest. They should eliminate them in flights of shorter duration.

Airport seats are designed by a an anti-social company. Very few airports have seats that would allow you to recline and fewer have even seat arm rests that can be removed to lie down. I have flown so many times with several hours of connectng time only to find no place to lie down. I have slept under seats, along the walls, and even on a TSA table.

I think knee defender is a bad idea. It doesn't take in to consideration of the person in front. Just like you have a long leg, he/she may have a sore back. Asking the person in front not to recline too far might be a polite option.

Another recourse is to allow more room between seats and allow the seats to recline further so you can get restful sleep. Those seats are adjustable in that way. Haven't you ever noticed that some airlines have more room between seats than others?

I'd like the option of locking the seat in front of me so that person couldn't recline if it would bother me; likewise, the same lever or other control would allow them to recline further back if I didn't care (say, I was going to nap myself).

Maybe a whole reclining section could be set aside--you'd have to recline the entire trip, except on takeoffs and landings. A simple announcement would be made when it was time to recline or straighten up--don't add weight with more controls!

I love spartha's point--make them like those thin-backed office chairs! But why just address seat backs? I think if the seat bottom could tilt up a little with a footrest coming out as well, passengers' legs might be more comfortable.

I guess I'm in the minority because I think airline seats are comfortable and well designed. Also, I like to recline sometimes and if the person in front of me does, it's okay with me. The silly chairs only recline like ten-degrees anyway. I also agree that thin-walled chairs would help.

But I do have a possible solution for the people that don't like recliners--maybe if a person is reclining, his chair could lift closer to the ceiling/luggage by 8-10 inches, then his incursion on your personal space would be less. Maybe this way we could even get a 45-degree recline? Might be claustrophobic, though.

I also think it's easier to sleep reclined. Even awake, in general, I'm just more comfortable that way. FYI, I'm 5'8", not heavy and I drive low sports-cars most of the time.