A plastic device called the Knee Defender is now on sale on the Internet. As its name suggests, the Knee Defender’s purpose is to keep a person’s knees from being squashed by a reclining seat in front of them while flying.
The gadget is a simple block that fits on the arm of a tray table on the seat in front of you, thereby preventing the seat from reclining.
While some people can’t wait to get their hands on one--close to 1,000 Knee Defenders have already been sold -- airlines and other critics are voicing concerns.
Not only could the device potentially damage the seat should someone try to force their seat back to recline, therefore creating a potential safety hazard, but also there is the issue of the arguments that could arise should someone wish to recline their seat, but finds they cannot because someone has used a Knee Defender.
Yahoo News October 24, 2003
The amount of legroom on airplanes can be a major issue, especially if you are over six feet tall and/or regularly use your notebook computer during the flight. But certainly there are other ways to get more legroom without interfering with someone else’s right to recline.
For instance, one of the reasons I fly American Airlines is that every seat has extended legroom. Another option is to save up frequent-flyer mileage and get first class upgrades or seek to get exit-row aisle seats or seats in the bulkhead. Obviously, this strategy isn’t guaranteed every time, but it certainly can help.
Of course, the major issue here is that this device makes it so that the person in front of you cannot recline his or her seat. While it may benefit you, what about that other person? Perhaps this every-man-for-himself mentality has gone a little too far, and when you look at it in this light, perhaps a little less legroom isn’t such a bad thing after all.
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