Originally Posted by
weero
I agree with others that the people with bad backs and those with bad knees will not win each other over in such a debate. But the status quo is that recline is offered making the non-recline faction a vocal minority which is only catered for by a few carriers.
I'd say recline being offered is more a result of the carriers not carefully considering its effects on personal space when they decided to add another row in. Designers/Engineers likely thought they could reduce room, add in some visual design tricks to trick our eyeballs, and profit. Removing the recline functionality during this change would have been more obvious to the pax.
It'd be interesting if there was any data on the number of pax conflicts over the years. I imagine it's only going to increase from here.