‘People who recline their seats on aeroplanes are psychopaths and should be banned from flying’

As golden rules go, the one about treating others as you would like to be treated is one of the easier ones to live by. If you’re going on a date, don’t have a cheese and onion sandwich for lunch. If you work in a small office, don’t reheat a fish pie in the communal microwave. If you’re off on holiday, don’t recline your seat on the plane.

You may think: “I paid for this seat, why shouldn’t I do whatever I like?” What’s it to you if the person behind you has less leg room?

Planes are uncomfortable. For most, flying is the worst part of going on holiday; the misery of being stuffed into a metal can at 36,000ft is the price we begrudgingly pay for the joy of travel. Is three inches of reclined comfort so much to ask?

Yes. We live in a society and that means sometimes you have to cope with minor discomfort for the good of those around you. And let’s not pretend that keeping your seat upright is more than a minor discomfort. You do it for seven hours a day at work, you can manage it on a short-haul flight.

Chances are, immediately after your flight, you’ll be checking into a comfortable hotel room where you can laze and lounge to your heart’s desire. You won’t have to inflict yourself on anyone else while you do it.

Allow me to remind you of a basic fact of life which some entitled air passengers seem to have forgotten: you are no more important than anyone else. You do not have a God-given right to comfort at their expense.

The benefit you get from reclining is, frankly, miniscule. It isn’t going to make the seat less hard, it isn’t going to improve the taste of your in-flight meal, it isn’t going to make the feet of the guy beside you stink any less.

What it will accomplish is to give even less room to the person behind you, make it harder to watch their film or eat their meal, and set their holiday off to a bad start.

Some small discomfort is the price of having cheap airfares and being able to travel. If you don’t like it, pay for the upgrade to first class or better yet, hire a private jet where you can do literally anything you want. If these are impossible and you truly can’t handle a few hours of sitting up straight, perhaps you’re simply not suited to travel. Might I recommend staying at home in your armchair and moaning about your misanthropy on social media instead?