I don't get the griping with the reclining. I see it all over reddit and here. Never in real life. It has never affected my life in the least bit to have someone in the seat ahead of me recline their seat. It doesn't affect knee room at all. You lose what maybe 3 inches of dead air space if that at the top of their seat.

>It doesn't affect knee room at all.

There are definitely airline seats where the reclining seats impact the knee room. I'm 6'2" but I seem to have more of it in the legs than typical, which really shows up in non-extended legroom airlines. I buy the upgrade whenever possible, but sometimes it's just not available.

In a regular (not extended) seat, I have two positions that work: my ankles crossed and tucked up close to my seat with knees spread, and nothing in the underseat in front of me and then putting my feet there, with my legs straightened (wedging my thighs into the edge of my seat). Even then, my knees are high enough that usually the person in front of me reclining will recline the seat back into my knees (best case) or those metal side rails into my knees. Especially enjoyable when the suddenly recline the seat.

Not everyones body geometry is the same. My son is around the same height as me, but when we sit in the car he's like half a head taller than me, he carries a lot of his height in his trunk where I carry it in my legs.

It's only dead space if you are not using it. I like to open my laptop and place it on the tray. When the person in front reclines, I am forced to sit still for the duration of the flight. I usually fly from Europe to Asia, so 10-12 hours.