(By Christopher Elliott Special to ABCNEWS.com)

Should airlines lock their economy-class seats in the upright position and throw away the key? Bill Zalenski, a medical underwriter from Nashville, Tenn., thinks so. “You know what happens to a 6-footer sitting in a cramped seat when the person in front reclines? Squish,” he says. “Airlines should get rid of reclining seats.”

Carrie Cargill of East Lansing, Mich., believes the recliners are a nuisance too. “My husband is constantly having problems on flights,” she reports. “One time, the woman in front of him tried to recline the seat back. Since his knees hit the seat, she couldn’t move. Instead of looking back to see what was going on, she slammed herself repeatedly into the seat in the hope of getting it to move. After the third time, I informed her that my husband’s legswere in her way. She gave me the look of death and turned around with a “HHUUMPH.”

Same Space for All

Preventing the seats from going back isn’t such a bad idea.
Flight attendants would love it. Just think: No more “return your seats to the upright position before landing” announcements. Everyone in sardine class would already be locked in place, ready for their descent. And no more need to settle violent disputes between passengers because someoneleaned into someone else’s personal space. Everyone in steerage would have the same amount of personal space, to the millimeter. Most major airlines claim to offer the cattle in the back of the plane roughly 30 inches of pitch between seats. But that legroom isn’t fixed. Standard economy-class seats — except for those in the back and near emergency exits, which don’t go back at all — recline by about 18 degrees.

For a man like Cargill’s husband, who is more than 6 feet tall, the space shrinks quickly as the seat in front of him leans back. In effect, a fully reclined seat would leave him with as little as 26 inches of wiggle room. His only option at that point is to “create” more personal space by reclining his seat, prompting the passenger behind him to do likewise and triggering the dreaded domino effect.

Safety Hazard

It is the prospect of an entire cabinful of reclined seats that inspired a government emergency disaster planner to write me a few weeks ago. “My greatest concern regarding the tighter seating is the impact on emergency evacuations,” she observed. “It can be difficult under ideal circumstances to extract oneself from a window seat. It would be much more difficult in an emergency — particularly when there are injuries.”

It’s worth pointing out that during an emergency landing, passengers would move seats into their upright positions (if they had time), and that the Federal Aviation Administration is none too flexible about keeping the emergency exit rows uncluttered. But that doesn’t invalidate her point: Canning the recliners might make planes safer. I’m not pulling your leg here. I really think this is a good idea.

Peacekeeping Measure

I know the 35-degree angle at which the seats would be bolted tight is the same angle preferred by interrogators trying to deprive subjects of sleep. But honestly, I’d rather lose a little shuteye than get a bottle smashed over my head by a crazed passenger who thought I robbed him of his legroom.

And hey, the new policy would keep me from being inconsiderate to my fellow passengers — not the least of which are the unfortunate souls sitting in the rows that don’t recline.

Of course no airline chief executive in his right mind would ever allow all the little seats to get locked in place. The ability to recline gives the peons in the back of the plane the illusion of comfort where there is none. Kind of like putting mirrors on a wall gives the illusion of space.

Would passengers demand it? Not likely. They’d rather take their chances that they’ll end up with a bulkhead window seat, a couple of extra pillows and blankets, and a very short adult behind them.

Christopher Elliott, a k a The Crabby Traveler, is a writer based in Annapolis, Md. His column appears on Tuesdays.

[This message has been edited by Rudi (edited 02-08-99).]

I'm 6-3 with long legs and I say the airlines should either lock the seat backs in place or provide a locking mechanism that the passenger behind each seat controls.

My only alternative to having my legs crushed now is to mutter an expletive and push back so the person in front of me can't recline their seat. If they recline while I'm out of my seat, I have to "accidentally" move my knees (and their seat) around until they get the message.

I'm 6'2" and I couldn't agree more about leg room. Also, especially when I have my laptop on the tray table and the reclining seat nearly breaks the screen off. NO reclining seats would be fair for everyone.

How about more space in economy as the first line of defence? The average height has been increasing steadily since planes were invented. That must be taken into account when designing planes.

More space and (some) reclining too! I too have had my laptop screen scrunched by the forward seat. Fortunately, it looks like I won't be in economy most of this year so won't have to worry about all this. But sooner or later I will have to fly economy and would like things improved.

I'm not tall, but I'd vote for bolted seats. It really makes sense and the small amount of recline that they give you actually makes it more uncomfortable for me. I'm much more comfortable with the seat upright. Well, let me correct myself...I'm much more comfortable in First Class!

I am 5'3" and find it uncomfortable when the person in front of me reclines. So I vote for no recline. When I am in coach, I request the first row behind FC. This way I'm guaranteed nobody will recline on my lap!

I SAY AMEN!!! traveltoomuch. What I want to know is how do we vote? Emails to airlines, etc.? Or what?

I can live with the seats Locked upright. IN fact it would save me from MR. Very big man in front of me flops down in the seat in front of me and reclines the seat as far as it can go.

Or the teenager who likes to see how far the seat goes... shaking and knocking my Pepsi all over my paperwork!! (I would start a riot if it spilled on my laptop... if I had one!)

And being of the Big guys club... If they could make the coach seats a little bit more comfortable I would not mind sitting in them for hours.

But PremEx I'm right behind you... give me those First Class seats anytime. Or prefertable my Barcolounger! CATMAN

Catman, Maybe you could try to claim your "Barcolounger" is a carry-on!

First Class for JAWs, too!!!

Lock up those Main Cabin seats!!!

No reclining seats in coach .... please, please, please.

Ahem...

I just want to let any airline representatives who may be lurking know that we are talking about *SHORT HAUL* flights.

I agree with all of the above, but don't want to be stuck in a non-reclining coach seat on a transoceanic/overnight flight...

I agree with those who say lock the seats, my wife strongly agrees also.

"Tree", Where have you been hiding? We missed you! Glad to see your clearing your throat and getting back into this FF fray.

Sorry, but I have to politely disagree with most of the comments above.

If seats would be permanently locked in an upright position, that would also mean that you would not be able to 'stretch' out in case a flight would not be so fully booked. Overnight/redeye flights frequently have a lower load factor, and I would hate to have to sit up straight on one of those across the country...

I suggest that instead airlines focus on increasing leg room a bit....

Thanks for noticing, Jaws...

I've been around, but busy, and there were so many posts that I had a hard time just keeping up with the Buzz.

FYI: Shark fin soup (or roast cat, for that matter) is NOT an ff topic!!