The etiquette of reclining your seat

Reclining seats can be a real thorny issue. Photo / Getty Images

Sharing your personal space with strangers is an age-old problem.

But where the issue of reclining seats on a plane is concerned, tensions run especially high - it's a regular frustration flash point on flights.

With legroom at a premium and knee defender gadgets forcing the issue, etiquette, behaviour and aviation experts have tackled the thorny question of whether it's ever ok to recline your seat on a flight.

Most holidaymakers have spent at least one flight in an endless battle with either the passenger in front of them trying to extend their seat into their lap or the person behind them digging their knees into their back.

Outlining the reason for our perhaps inappropriate levels of aggression during this experience, psychologist Judi James told MailOnline Travel:"We do need to remember how territorial we are and how wars are often fought over space and ownership, so we are looking at a form of plane wars!"

"Once we occupy our seat we take total mental ownership of that space and the space around it.

"Any shared areas like arm rests should actually require polite negotiation but we tend to take them by force leading to silent conflict."

Explaining the sense of entitlement flyers feel she added: "If our seat is built to recline we see that as permission to recline it as far back as we want. It's as though the airline had set the boundaries."

For some flyers, the rules of etiquette seem to be suspended while hurtling through the sky.

James noted: "Up in mid-air people feel normal rules no longer apply, making their behaviour more egocentric than normal."

With air rage likely to spiral over the holiday season, a 25-year veteran flight attendant has reignited the debate on her aviation podcast, Betty in the Sky.

"Passengers get very heated over the recline-or-not-to-recline topic.

"I've seen grown men about to fist-fight over the ownership of a few inches of in-flight space," Betty Thesky told the BBC World Service.

It is one of British flyers' biggest bugbears with three quarters wanting to ban reclining seats on planes.

In October, MailOnline reported that business class flyers were escorted off a plane after a man, 27, and woman, 42, allegedly fought over a reclined seat. The pair had been flying from Thailand's Phuket to Sydney when the fight broke out mid-flight.

And with the launch of inventions such as the Knee Defender the debate has intensified.

The Knee Defender consists of two small pieces of plastic which clip the arms of your fold-down table, and prevent the passenger in front from pushing his seat back.

The device is adjustable - the closer the plastic clips are placed to the back of the seat, the less the seat will be able to move. It was invented by one Ira Goldman from Washington who, at 6ft 4in, was fed up with being "bashed in the knees over and over again" when flying.

To keep tempers from fraying, the gadget comes with a "courtesy card", which you hand to the passenger in front explaining why you are using the clips, and how many inches you are willing to allow him to recline.

Back in 2014, MailOnline reported on a confrontation between a man and a fellow passenger on a United Airlines flight from Newark to Denver over his knee defender, which forced the plane to divert.

Airline safety protocol insists that seats are set to the upright position during taxi, take-off and landing but when it comes to meal time and whether you opt to nap or work during a flight, there is no policy.

To avoid awkward confrontations, the key is to communicate politely, all of the experts advise.

Thesky said: "I personally think the most polite, fair and equitable solution is to recline your seat half way. It's also polite to put your seat in the upright position during the meal service."

She added that by simply asking if it's okay to recline your seat you'll most likely be met with a positive response.

Concurring and asserting the importance of maintaining decorum at all times, etiquette expert William Hanson said: "It's perfectly acceptable to recline your seat but not until after the meal service has been completed and all trays have been cleared away.

"A glance behind to check that they aren't using the tray table for a laptop or children's colouring book is also sensible and gives a subtle yet polite warning to the person behind. Recline slowly, too."