Flight attendants say it's okay to recline your seat on a plane, but there's one thing you should never do

• Insider surveyed six flight attendants on their thoughts about controversial airplane etiquette.
• The majority said it's perfectly fine to recline your seat back, especially on longer flights.
• The one thing they almost all agreed on: please don't take your shoes off on the plane.

Now that everyone's flying again, it's time to revisit one of the most polarizing debates in travel: to recline or not to recline your plane seat.

An unnerving surge in unruly passenger incidents combined with the industry's claustrophobia-inducing legroom means reclining your seat may risk a kick in the back or a mid-air argument — and the internet is constantly divided over who's in the right.

But if there's anybody who can settle the age-old debate, it's flight attendants.

Five out of six flight attendants interviewed by Insider all agree: you have the right to recline. Some have chosen to remain anonymous or omit the name of their airline due to their employer's media policy, but Insider has verified their positions.

"It's definitely not rude to recline your seat," flight attendant Andrew Kothlow of the blog "Two Guys on a Plane" told Insider. "I personally think it's rude to believe that a person will not try to get as comfortable as possible if the option exists to them — especially on a long flight."

"I do understand there might be certain circumstances where a passenger may want the seat in front of them in the upright position, like while eating a meal, but I think in general, passengers should be allowed to use the features of the seat that they paid for," Kothlow's partner Rich Henderson, who is also a flight attendant at a major US airline, said. "Telling a passenger that they can't recline their seat is like saying they can't use their tray table."

All but one Delta flight attendant said reclining is perfectly acceptable airplane etiquette.

"In first class reclining your seat isn't so rude because there's space to recline, but reclining in the main cabin of the plane is," the flight attendant told Insider. "I guess partially reclined seats is okay."

Leysha Perez, a regional flight attendant, offers a compromise for the people-pleasers out there: if you do recline, return your seat to its upright position during meal service.

"When you're eating your food you're going to be sitting up anyway, so it would be good etiquette to bring your seat up while you're eating," Perez said.

'For the love of all things wear shoes'

But the passenger etiquette the flight attendants demonstrated more concern toward was their boldly bare-footed customers — and for good reason.

"I've seen passengers walk around the plane with their shoes off," Perez said. "It's not water that you're seeing on the bathroom floor sometimes, it's probably bodily fluids that you're walking in."

"For the love of all things wear shoes," one flight attendant at a major US airline told Insider. "Walking throughout the aircraft barefoot or even with socks is disgusting."

As for other hygiene considerations for your close-quarter journeys, the Delta flight attendant said it's considerate to shower and apply deodorant before flying — but recommends taking it easy on the perfume.

Beyond wearing footwear, several of the flight attendants said their best fashion advice for passengers is to dress in layers, as cabin temperatures can get chilly and not all planes have blankets available.

"Dress for the journey, not the destination," Henderson said. "Whether you're going to the Swiss Alps or the Caribbean, you're going to want to wear clothing that you can layer for different climates."

"It drives us crazy when people get on the plane wearing shorts and tank tops, and then complain that it is too cold," another flight attendant added.

While the golden days of traveling in suits and dresses may be long gone, several flight attendants still advised against wearing overly-casual or inappropriate clothing like bathing suits or sheer beach cover-ups.

"Leave the pajamas at home," Henderson told Insider. "You never know who you might run into while traveling."