Airline seat reclining sparks skirmish

What are the most annoying habits on airplanes? We kick off with number 20 -- abusing overhead bin space. You folded your suit coat nicely and placed your hat in the allotted overhead space. Too bad Bin Hog just mangled it all while shoving his suitcase, stroller and shopping bags into a space meant for one personal item.

Airplane movies: the opiate of the flying masses. Except when your hyperactive neighbor takes 30 minutes to decide between "Grown Ups 2" or something a little less cerebral. Such behavior earns "passengers who take too long to pick a movie" the number 19 spot on our "most annoying" list.

Coming in at spot 18 -- compulsive leg-shaking. The fidgety leg-shaker isn't all that common, but still annoying when encountered at altitude.

Annoying behavior number 17? Boarding ahead of group number. Most airlines have a system for getting hundreds of passengers aboard in the least amount of time. That's why we schlep on as part of Group A or B or C. Just because you drew the short straw on this one doesn't give you the right to pretend to be dyslexic.

What's more annoying than people rushing to board the plane? Babies crying. Are we really blaming babies for doing what babies do naturally? Sure, as long as they're your kids, and not ours.

"I'd learn some bladder control if I was in the window seat," runs the unspoken complaint. Number 15 on our list -- those who get huffy when you leave your seat.

"Hey, we just landed. ... can you hear me? ... we just landed ... I'm on the runway ... can you hear me now? ... We just landed ... " Annoying behavior number 14: Those who can't bear to wait to deplane before yacking on their cell phones.

We get it -- airlines have cut back on food service, forcing us all to bring our own snacks and meals onboard. But did you really have to clean out the back of your refrigerator? Bringing aboard stinky food isn't just annoying, it's gross too.

Hey, we're trying to read here. Number 12 on the rude behavior list: people who don't know how to use their inside voices on planes.

Coming in at number 11 -- elbow wars. Do you often find yourself elbowing someone else's arm off what should be a shared space? That's armrest hegemony. And it's annoying.

Praise God, the middle seat is empty! Til the guy next to you employs annoying behavior number 10 and lays claim to the no man's land of the middle seat with a book, coat or inflatable neck support. Or long appendage.

Thanks for sharing your globules of diseased saliva. This lonely gentleman may have the only sensible approach to dealing with those who practice annoying behavior number nine -- germ sharing.

Bleep, bloop, blorp. Funny how some of the most irritating things on the planet can be called "games." Even more irritating are people who play them, on a plane, with the sound turned on.

"Sir, is that a ... carry-on?" Annoying behavior number seven: Wielding huge suitcases as carry-ons.

Here we've regressed to the time before the invention of the queue. Don't you just hate people who rush from the back of the plane in an attempt to disembark first?

Another annoying behavior that also falls into the gross category -- cutting fingernails inflight. Toenails are also trimmed at 30,000 feet, but that would have been a really offensive picture.

"Feet nudism" is a common complaint, earning it the number 4 spot on our list. Appalling side note: people who actually go to the bathroom on the airplane in their bare feet.

We've all encountered the toilet hogger. What are they doing in there, you wonder as you hover cross-legged by the door. Certainly not being considerate of other people.

Annoying travel behavior number two: recliners. Aviation engineers, listen up: No one likes the recline button! Time to reinvent the plane seat.

"He kicked someone's seat-back." Airplane Irritant No. 1 -- seat-back kicking -- invites a violent response.

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• Airline passengers who recline their seats are facing blowback in the air


• Two flights have allegedly been diverted in the past week over reclining disputes


• A third flight was diverted when two passengers allegedly got drunk and threatened the flight

(CNN) -- Inching into another passenger's knee space has some fliers itching for a fight.

In the second serious airline legroom argument reported this week, a reportedly irate passenger caused a flight from Miami to Paris to divert to Boston on Wednesday.

Paris resident Edmund Alexandre, 60, was charged in U.S. federal court Thursday with interfering with an airline flight crew. Interfering with flight crew members is a violation of federal law and carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. (The passenger's name has also been spelled "Edmond" Alexandre in court documents.)

About two hours after American Airlines Flight 62 had departed Miami on Wednesday, Alexandre allegedly "began arguing with another passenger and became disruptive," according to a press statement from Carmen Ortiz, U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. Alexandre was also charged under state law.

After a crew member asked him to calm down and walked away, "Alexandre allegedly began raising his voice again, followed the crew member towards the back of the plane, and grabbed the crew member's arm," according to Ortiz's statement.

At that time federal air marshals on the flight broke cover and subdued and restrained Alexandre, according to an FBI agent's affidavit. The flight was diverted to Boston Logan International Airport, where he was arrested.

Alexandre complained of high blood pressure and issues with diabetes, according to the affidavit, and was transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital.

It's been a tense week for passengers on both sides of the right-to-recline debate.

This device caused an in-flight fight

A United Airlines flight from Newark to Denver was diverted on August 24 after two passengers argued over one passenger's use of a "Knee Defender," a device that blocks reclining.

Should the Knee Defender be banned?

Water was thrown and the passengers, both 48, were removed from the flight in Chicago, according to a federal law enforcement source, speaking on background. The passengers were not arrested.

It seems at least one of the passengers was not completely satisfied with the extra space in the Economy Plus section where they were seated, which provides United passengers up to 5 inches of extra legroom compared with standard coach seats.

Aviation blogger Benet Wilson is surprised there haven't been more incidents in the air as travelers face long security checkpoint lines at more crowded airports as well as less space and fewer amenities on planes.

"As airlines try and squeeze as many seats into economy as possible, that decreases seat pitch which can be uncomfortable for someone like me, who is 5'3"," wrote Wilson via email.

"But imagine being a foot taller squeezed into that same space. It doesn't help that the FAA doesn't have an official rule on using (seat blocking devices), instead deferring to passengers and airlines. So I feel the situation will get worse before it gets better."

The core problem is definitely the airlines packing too many seats too close together into a tight space, said veteran flight attendant Heather Poole, author of "Cruising Attitude: Tales of Crashpads, Crew Drama, and Crazy Passengers at 35,000 Feet."

"That said, this doesn't give anyone the right to act childish," Poole wrote via email. "To react in such a way that the crew feels the need to divert a flight to have a passenger removed is a really big deal."

In a disagreement where legroom tension does not appear to have been a factor, a couple of drunken women partied a little too hard on a Canadian flight bound for Cuba this week and found their plans of sunny, sandy beaches replaced with arrests and a court appearance.

The two women on Sunwing Airlines Flight 656 from Toronto to Varadero, Cuba, apparently broke out their duty-free booze on Wednesday, lit up a cigarette in a passenger jet bathroom and got "into a physical altercation with each other," the airline said.

They also allegedly threatened to do something to the plane, which triggered Canadian military jet escorts and an immediate return trip home. A judge granted the two women bail on Thursday after they were charged with disturbing a flight.

The crew didn't actually believe the women could do any damage, "given their condition," Sunwing said, but procedure called for the captain to make a U-turn and head back to Toronto Pearson International Airport.