I fly at least one round trip per week. Not always on the same airline, and not always to the same destination. The only assholes I see, are mostly passengers, and I rarely see anything like what has been described here.

C.clark:
What kind of cheese?

I like Camembert myself, or brie.
But I don't like riding with my knees tucked under my chin.

For every situation there's a solution. First Class will give you more room and there are ways to get upgraded for free. You could also take a train or ship, or even drive when ever possible.
Or stay home!!!!!
And April the kind of cheese that is appropriate for this occasion would be Gorgonzola!!!!!
You know Bob the only thing worse than a kid whining is a man whining!!!!!!!

C Clark:

...and the only thing worse than a man whining is a woman (or man) who obviously has no clue about what the topic of a message thread is about, and has absolutely nothing constructive to say..........

Ok,
I know that everyone has their arrow knocked but I've lost track of who's turn to fire !!!!!!!

Rich, the title of the message was "Bashing USA Airlines". What is constructive about that????? Usually and I'm using the term loosely when an adult has a problem with something he or she deals with it in a "constructive" manner.
Now I'm going to give you a little "constructive" information in helping you avoid being too cramped.
1.Always ask the airline to make sure that your seat fully reclines. Seats that don't tilt back account for up to 10% of a plane's Coach cabin. Boeing 747's have the most "stiffbacks",777's and L-1011's the least.
2.Choose 767's and Airbus A300's whenever possible.They have the fewest middles. Stay away from Boeing 747's,DC-10's and MD-11's which dedicate
almost 40% of their Coach cabins to center spots.
3.And when ever these things aren't possible sit next to an emergency exit.
And now Rich I was wonder just what you said that was so "constructive"?

I know that usually the seats in the last row of the cabin don't recline, but which others don't? Just curious.

Different seats on different airlines.Airline ticket agents should be able to determine which seats recline and which don't, if they can't speak to a supervisor. Avoid seats in any row forward of an emergency exit door or in the last row of a section. If you tell me which airline and which plane specifically I'll try and help you.

C. Clark, I have two words for you, my friend:

Up yours.

I don't usually resort to this level but you really asked for it with your first post.

And it only took you since my first posting to come up with "Up Yours" I'm impressed !!!!! LOL

If nothing else, maybe a good limerick can come of this.

But seriously I don't think anyone should have to upgrade to be treated decently.

American Airlines couldn't even manage to seat my husband and me together (they sandwiched him in between a newlywed couple), let alone arrange any other seating...or arrange much of anything for that matter. They told us to try to work it out ourselves. Yes, we were there hours early but the ticket agent couldn't figure out how to use the computer and hoards went ahead of us. This may sound trivial but it was just one of several incidents that made me wonder if I was making a big mistake by not fleeing from the plane before take-off.

In the real world, choosing the type of airplane, or the seats, is not always an option. In this particular case our flights were arranged by a cruiseline.

Why would I stay home when there are respectable airlines left in the world? The great thing about this forum is getting first hand information.

The cruise line should have arranged your seating on the plane, but you also could have phoned in when you got your cruise tickets and rearranged your seating yourself.
No, you can't always pick your plane, but you can try and get the best seats on the plane by doing a little homework.
When I mentioned upgrades it had nothing to do with being treated decently, it had to do with Bob complaining about leg room.

I usually fly United. I haven't seen their name mentioned yet. In my opinion the flight attendants were much more professional and friendly 25 years ago. On my last 2 flights I took note of at least two of them who never smiled for the 5 hours flight! Are the unions getting so powerful that these older attendants no longer fear for their jobs? They also don't wear name tags so it's more difficult to identify them in complaints for being ignored and treated rudely. There are alot of very pleasant flight attendants both young and old. If these people don't like their jobs, they should quit! One of those who never smiled, yawned as she said goodbye to us! Guess it's gotten like most occupations, good and bad workers.

PS to C. Clark,

We didn't just phone in about the seats, we went right up to the ticket counter in Phoenix on the trip down where the guy changed and 'confirmed' our seating. He lied. On the return trip through Florida, they knew nothing about it and couldn't have cared less. What it boils down to is lousy service.

I think reasonable leg room does have to do with being treated decently. If my legs are touching the seat in front of me and I'm only 5'2", I don't know how tall people cope.

April when you checked in they give you a boarding pass, on the boarding pass it's says your seat numbers.
My son's six foot three and the only time that he complained about leg room was on a charter and I told him you can always fly first class, lots of leg room there. Economy means : freedom from waste in the use of anything; thrift.
First Class meansf the highest rank or quality.
I also agree that there's no excuse for rudeness and I quite agree that if you don't like your job, get one that you do. To bad everybody else doesn't!!!