Who Will Defend The Knee Defender?

​On Sunday, two passengers aboard a United Airlines flight got into a fight over the use of a Knee Defender, a $22 set of plastic clamps that prevents the seat in front of the user from reclining. The tussle between the two passengers became so heated — hurtful words and a glass of water went flying  — that the pilot was forced to land the plane halfway through the New Jersey-to-Denver flight. 

It's pretty crazy to think two grown adults could ground a cross-country flight over the issue of a reclining seat, but here we are! 

Then again, judging by the media's response to the story, maybe these two adults weren't acting so childish after all. Over the past few days, many outlets took the time to weigh in on one of the greater moral questions facing modern society: Is it cool to recline your seat?

The debate settled into two camps: Those in favor of the Knee Defender (and thus anti-seat reclining) and the pro-seat reclining against it. Alarmingly, both sides seemed a little too militant about their position.

Here's what the anti-reclining party had to say:

My own knee defense is this: As soon as the seatbelt sign goes off and people are free to annoy me, I wedge my knees against the seat in front of me. Any attempted move back is met with resistance. (Very good exercise, too.) At first, the person in front thinks there's something wrong with his chair and tries again, meeting like resistance. Then there's that backward glance, and the dirty look. I smile and say: "Sorry, those are my knees. And I'm not moving them." Secretly I am saying, "If you try to move that seat back again I'm going over the top of your chair and strangling you."

— Knees Need A Defender: There's No Excuse For Leaning Back On An Airplane, Time

I can relate to the gentleman who locked the tray table. I can't count the number of flights when I've taken out my laptop to start working when, without warning, the seat in front of me drops back, my tray table makes a beeline for my abdomen, and the laptop screen is shoved closed like an angry clam. This effectively ends any productivity on an airplane, and my fate has been decided by the passenger sitting in front of me. I'm reduced to playing Candy Crush on my iPad for the remainder of the flight.

— In Defense Of The Knee Defender, The Boston Globe

The Knee Defender's creator Ira Goldman, who is six feet, three inches tall, defended his invention. "People want to do something to protect themselves," Goldman told CBS News. "This has always been a problem, and it's become a bigger problem the closer the seats are together." […] "Nobody wants to buy this product, nobody wants to carry it around with them and deploy it for giggles," Goldman said. "They do it because they've encountered problems, and they want to resolve it as best they can."

— Knee Defender Creator Stands Up For Device, CBS News

An airplane is an enclosed environment. For most passengers, there is not very much extra room. Space is tight. No one can go anywhere. We are collectively trapped. It is simple decency not to crudely and selfishly recline your seat into the face of your unfortunate neighbor to the rear. Yes, you could recline your seat, legally; but that would make you a selfish, antisocial monster. I trust that you are not that. I trust that you are a good person.

— Don't Want Me to Spit on You When You Recline Your Airline Seat? Pay Me, Gawker

All very good points. It's almost hard to argue with the Bill & Ted Be Excellent To Each Other school of ethics. But Josh Barro managed to find a way, citing, of all things, economic theory:

Airline seats are an excellent case study for the Coase Theorem. This is an economic theory holding that it doesn't matter very much who is initially given a property right; so long as you clearly define it and transaction costs are low, people will trade the right so that it ends up in the hands of whoever values it most. That is, I own the right to recline, and if my reclining bothers you, you can pay me to stop.

— Don't Want Me To Recline My Airline Seat? You Can Pay Me, The New York Times

Cool stuff! It's not clear if Barro has applied the Coase Theorem out in the field, but it'd be interesting if your average coach passenger could make the distinction between the theorem and extortion. Only one way to find out!

Others, possibly sensing that debating over seat reclining privilege was futile, focused their efforts on who is really to blame here: The Man.

The real guilty parties here aren't two fed up passengers, but United and other major carriers that put the squeeze on passengers and carry-on bags and then leave harried flight attendants to sort out the inevitable conflicts. 

— Knee Defender Offense: Our View, USA Today

Taking away legroom and squishing people into planes like sardines makes great economic sense for airlines, but sooner or later someone was bound to crack. That happened on Sunday with United Airlines Flight 1462. The irony in this case was that the quibbling passengers were seated in the Economy Plus section — where there was already an extra four inches of space.

— A Fight Over Legroom Forced a Plane to Divert. Airlines Should Have Seen This Coming, Slate

Inevitably, Joe Brown, an editor at Wired and now noted nihilist, points out that none of this will matter a few decades from now. He extrapolates in his letter from the future:

Life here is predictable and safe. There is no crime and plenty of food from the faucet. Though our ancestors used to commute—actually leave their homes and work in completely different buildings!—we never have to leave our units. The companies who gave us telepresence once boasted that they could keep cars off the roads; now nobody owns cars, and few people use roads. There's no need for such excess, and besides, working from home lets us consume fewer calories, the only currency we worry about anymore.

— Tall People Won't Have to Endure Reclining Airline Seats in the Future, Wired

So, what should you do? To start, engage the passenger behind you. Make eye contact. Ask them if they're okay with you reclining your seat. Listen to their response. Process it. Choose one: Sore knees, or a sore person sitting behind you. 

Or use a Knee Defender. Accept the fact that people will be upset that they were not consulted when you decided to restrict the operation of their seat. 

Or never get on a plane. Take the train. Enjoy a meandering ride through the country. Help slow the gradual heat-death of the Earth by not giving the airlines your money.

Whatever your decision, be prepared to accept responsibility for your actions, and acknowledge their consequences. It is the only way to live.