What about tall people who take up the space behind you so you can't lean back like you paid for?

I think airlines make a mistake by having reclining seats, however, it is your right to recline. As I write in "Good Manners For Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck":

If your airplane seat reclines, you do have the right to recline, but that doesn’t mean it’s the polite thing to do. Some claim reclining is a must to alleviate their back problems, but the way I see it, I don’t get all that much out of reclining and the person behind me gets a lot out of my not reclining, so I almost never put my seat back. My big-guy boyfriend feels similarly: “Unless I look back and see Kermit the Frog, I don’t recline. If it’s a slighter adult, I might recline a few notches, but not all the way.”

Regarding reclining seats: If I DO recline, I can sleep - for a six hour flight if necessary. That's huge. That said, I now only recline at all if there's somebody small (like a kid) behind me, because the seats are so close together that, at five-foot-two, I have trouble fitting MY legs in.

Regarding spillage: not all of it is "fat" spillage. I once had major encroachment from a guy who had arms like redwood trees. He legitimately sat in as small of a position as possible and didn't twitch a muscle for the two hour flight. I was annoyed, but clearly, he couldn't do any better and the flight was booked solid.

The airlines keep making the seats smaller and closer while people are actually getting bigger (taller most every generation AND heavier overall). We all SAY we want better airline policies, but we tend to shop on price. So, we are speaking one way with our mouths and another with our wallets.

Really, if you do have arms "like redwood trees," sorry, buy two seats. The cost of your flight should not be imposed on the person next to you. And I'll rephrase that: You have no right to impose the cost of your flight on the person next to you.

By the way, I ordered this Trtl sleep device from Amazon (for those who must travel goat class and would still like to sleep, even in a middle seat):

http://amzn.to/1ljPaUb

I have yet to try it -- it should arrive Monday, per the tracking.

The anger here is mis-placed. I saw that guy - Chris - on TV last night, and honestly, he wasn't *that* big. He is not the problem - the airlines with their magical, shrinking seats, are the problem.

Five to ten years ago those narrow seats were merely uncomfortable (and painful for my wife, who suffers from back problems). Now they are intolerable.

Man sues airline over injuries for sitting next to obese passenger

What? I'm sorry, no. You've got a head on your shoulders for a reason. And no, it's not to be a haberdashery fashion model.

It's one of those moments when Americans being on the chunky side is a blessing. If everyone in the USA were as skinny as the French, the airlines would have considered this diagram:

http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/SlaveTrade/collection/large/JCB_01138-1.JPG

Uh.. About the previous post.. Airbus actually patented the 3D-stacked version:

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/3518020/images/o-AIRBUS-STACKED-SEATING-facebook.jpg

I saw that guy - Chris - on TV last night, and honestly, he wasn't *that* big. He is not the problem - the airlines with their magical, shrinking seats, are the problem.

I saw him interviewed, and also was surprised: I've sat next to much larger people on planes, people who needed seat belt extenders -- and the FAs didn't seem to blink an eye.

On my last flight, an enormously fat man preboarded on a sold-out flight. When I got on the plane, he was in 1A by the window, and no one else had sat in his row. There was no way the airline would have let him fly without buying an extra ticket, so I sat in 1C.

Sure enough, when they closed the main cabin door, 1B was the only empty seat on the plane and we were the only ones with room. And, yes, he "overlapped" into 1B to the point where no one else could've sat there.

Amy: If your airplane seat reclines, you do have the right to recline, but that doesn’t mean it’s the polite thing to do.

"Your right...but not polite." Very true, and this can be said for a number of things. This is exactly the argument I used to make about smoking in bars and restaurants before it was banned via initiative in Washington State in 2005. Smokers would bleat that it was their "right" to smoke in those places. I pointed out what Amy did: it was their right, but it was rude (extremely rude, in my opinion), not to mention unhealthy to others. Thankfully, the citizens of Washington (and other states and cities) don't have to put up with this rude and toxic behavior anymore.

As for very large people on planes... yes, it's unfortunate that coach/2nd class seats are so small but airlines need to do this -- or at least say they need to do this -- to be profitable, so that's the way it is and very large people should either pay for two seats or pay for a wider seat in business/1st class.

Personally, I guess I'm lucky. The only time I had a large person sit next to me was on a flight from Paris to Nice. He wasn't huge so, while he encroached on my space, it wasn't that bad and it was a short flight so I just put up with it. If I was on a long flight and a very large person next to me was really encroaching on my space, I'd ask a FA for a seat change.

"You have no right to impose the cost of your flight on the person next to you."

Patrick Smith finds Emirates trip horrible

To Recline...

:shrug: f-em. I am 24" across the shoulders, only 6' tall, but planes have been intollerable for many years, so I hope the bosses don't suddenly find money to send me places... ultimately the product the airline sells has been maximized, and no burly men need apply. Even #1son who is 5'10" is rangy in the shoulders, though he is a 140# beanpole... has problems with is knees pretty often, and has to turn to keep his shoulders any distance from seat mates.

I guess they need a size box for people to pass through before they get on the plane. But then it would become apparent that they've maximized too much.

I have a friend who was humiliated because she was forced to pay for the seat next to her, and the passenger next to her had to move, because of spillage. This was on a plane with at least 12 empty seats that were counted.

My biggest beef with this was the passenger next to her was her husband, who didn't mind the spillage. It's not like a stranger was kept off the plane.

Maybe I missed it somewhere, but are people complaining about spillage that happens even when the armrest is in the horizontal position? (Obviously, it is not polite to lift it when you're the fat one and the person next to you did not give permission.)

Otherwise, if it IS in the horizontal position, unless the "thinner" passenger is pretty plump too, I suspect he/she could avoid touching the fatter one with little or no inconvenience.

Amy: "If your airplane seat reclines, you do have the right to recline, but that doesn’t mean it’s the polite thing to do."

And, even if someone insists that they have that right to recline; it would still be even more common courtesy to not recline at full speed!

And, it isn't just so you don't knock my drink off the tray or anything; I hate getting hit in the face!

"I have a friend who was humiliated because she was forced to pay for the seat next to her,..."

This was the first time she was noticed for her size?

Please. The airliner's cabin isn't a mall. Three or four people would notice her... predicament... as opposed to hundreds in a shopping center.

What happened, really, was that the illusion of anonymity was stripped away, revealing the difference between her public image and her private one.