A Delta Air Lines economy passenger was spotted inflight on a four hour flight using his seat as a standing desk. He’s resting his laptop on top of his seat back, and facing backwards to work. This is a power move.

guy on my 5 hr. flight has been using his seat as a standing desk pic.twitter.com/24UTaQz43n

— downbad capital (@nycdouche_) February 22, 2023

To be sure, the ‘airline seat as standing desk’ is a controversial choice.

Wow, brand new incredibly insufferable guy just dropped

— Private Equity Guy (Mezz) (@for_yield) February 22, 2023

put this guy on the do not fly list ASAP

— Demi Hear Me🗣Roar (@demikayallday) February 22, 2023

But I actually think it’s brilliant, and might do it for a couple of minutes myself.

• I’m sitting in the aisle, and the passenger next to me gets up to go to the lavatory. They’ll just be gone a minute, why settle back in with computer and drink and power cords only to have to get right back up? I may stand for a bit, it’s a good stretch, and I keep my laptop open with me during that time.

• And it’s a good idea to stand, change positions, on a long flight. Underpadded ‘slimline’ seats may help airlines squeeze more seats into planes, but they can be rough on a back over several hours. By the way the value of recline is often just changing angles to avoid a sore back. But standing up for awhile is great too.

The trick to it is to avoid eye contact with the person sitting behind you (pretend you’re a resident of Manhattan), don’t make them feel like you’re intruding into your space.

In the end I don’t know who wants to sit in a Delta economy seat for longer than they have to. And Michael O’Leary has been threatening for years to introduce standing-only planes. So I don’t see how a passenger can be criticized for this. Besides, Delta now offers free inflight wifi, might as well be productive.