Is Reclining Your Airplane Seat Upright Behavior or Downright Rude?

livemint.com:

reality, he said, neither passenger owns that space—it’s the airline’s. “The ambiguity lets them sell that space twice on every seat on every flight," he said. Airlines “offload the conflict onto the passengers, who mostly resolve it using good manners and politeness." Brett Wilmot, associate director of the ethics program at Villanova University, said that as an ethical matter, there is no right or wrong on the question.

When passengers buy tickets, they enter into an agreement with airlines giving them rights to do certain things, including tipping back. But since fliers share space with many others, he said, in the interest of creating the best experience for the most, they might not want to take full advantage of their rights. “As an ethicist, I think both of those views are important to consider," he said.

It is often left to flight attendants to referee disputes. Rich Henderson said he recently had to defuse a confrontation after a man complained he couldn’t work on his laptop because the passenger in front of him was reclining. “You’re both grown men.

Could you not have sorted this out yourself?" Henderson, who writes about being a flight attendant on the website Two Guys on a Plane, recalled thinking. Henderson said he believes you have a right to recline on a plane. Andrew Hebert, who is 61 and 6-foot-7, said often worries that the person in front of him is going to whack him in the knees if they recline too rapidly.

He said he doesn’t recline out of consideration of the person behind him. “Reclining does not change the comfort level for me," he said. “It’s horrible no matter what." Steve Brown, 62, who has traveled to 57 countries, said he gets annoyed when people in front of him recline.