Once upon a time, space was a vast, unlimited resource. (In the wild west, there was so much "available space", whole patches of land were available just for the asking.)
Nowadays, space has become a scarce commodity. Freeway congestion, long lines at the supermarket, movie theaters packed to the rafters. No wonder so many people desperately need a vacation.
The only problem is, you usually need an airline to get where you're going, where profit-making goes hand in hand with doling out ever-decreasing inches between passengers. Until the topic of overbooking and involuntary bumping recently became the foremost airline issue on American's minds, there were few ideas more hotly contested than that of the reclining seat.
The fight to protect personal space has become so contentious, it's even translated into real-time fights as people literally duke it out over which passenger has the right to the space between their person and the seat back in front of them.
Christopher Buccafusco, (a professor of law at Cardozo School of Law), and Christopher Jon Sprigman, (a professor at New York University School of Law), are asking just how much is that reclining seat worth.
Ignoring for a second that the duo has just handed airlines a new way to make money off passenger discomfort, the results have proven very interesting.
Buccafusco thinks recliners are "misguided," while Sprigman says "people who complain about reclining need to get some perspective on what a real problem looks like." Beyond that, they agree that "people who get in fights over airplane seats are idiots."
At this point, the research went to a dark place.
The duo recommended testing a model where airlines charge for drinks but allow passengers to purchase them for one another so that recline space is "efficiently allocated."
Of course, that model doesn't factor in the numerous passengers who don't care one way or another but would now be required to pay for soft drinks to accommodate the debate over reclining seats
The two professors also admit there is more work to be done.
"We would love to have access to an airplane full of people to run [a] study. United? Jet Blue? Delta? Virgin Atlantic? Anyone interested in helping us (and yourselves) out?"
If you do eventually find yourself paying for soft drinks and/or the privilege of reclining your seat, you might just have these two to thank. In the meantime, we'd love to know what you think. Feel free to tweet @TravelPulse to let us know what you think about airlines charging a fee for the privilege of reclining your seats.
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