A Fight Over Legroom Forced a Plane to Divert: Airlines Should Have Seen This Coming

The patent describes a "seating device with reduced bulk for an aircraft" complete with rotating armrests and a mechanism that allows the "saddle" and backrest to fold upwards, out of the way to allow passengers to squeeze into their window seat. The seating position also appears higher, increasing the vertical legroom in order to compensate for the severely reduced horizontal legroom.

The average airline seat is 31 inches

The Knee Defender uses two small pieces of plastic which are clipped on to the arms holding up the tray table. It was was invented by Ira Goldman, a 6-foot-3 resident of Washington, D.C., who put it on the market in 2003.