American Airlines Passenger Turns Seat Back Into Closet, Leaving Neighbor Wondering What Space They Paid For

An American Airlines passenger’s petty hack turned their seat back into a closet, leaving their neighbor fuming.

Of all the bad behavior on planes – like bare feet, propped up on the bulkhead, or walking barefoot into the lavatory – perhaps the worst is draping your hair or jacket over the behind you. That’s because it isn’t just rude or disgusting, it also encroaches onto the limited space of another passenger nearby.

Here, the passenger sitting in back asks American’s twitter team if this is now acceptable? They got told to speak with the crew, which of course is correct. The twitter team can’t help him during the flight really, they can just respond to passive aggressive comments online.

@AmericanAir Guess this acceptable when flying American Airlines pic.twitter.com/a5P6KsfO4x

— Brandon Miller (@urban_buckeye) December 9, 2025

The behavior at issue here is rude and disruptive, but people do what makes them comfortable, blissfully unaware of the consequences their actions have on others. And it happens often, especially as we enter colder periods where people want a place to hang their jacket. The overhead bin isn’t clean, but then again the seatback probably isn’t either.

Here, a Delta Air Lines passenger complains that the person in front of them draped their jacket over their seat back. This took up the passenger’s space who was seated behind. In the jacket owner’s defense, however, someone suggests,

I don’t see why this is a problem. The passenger ahead has generously provided you with a cloth napkin!

Nope
byu/Evelyns_Human indelta

And here, a woman whose big jacket was tied around her seat back took up space from the passenger behind them, and covered that passenger’s screen too.

Ready to get triggered?
byu/WheatlyWoodson indelta

Like when passengers drape their hair over the seat back behind them, people always want to sabotage the passenger in front of them (glue, gum, scissors, coffee). Normally the best bet is asking a flight attendant for assistance. I’d follow up with a note to the airline about not getting the seat space paid for with the ticket. Perhaps they’ll throw a few miles at the problem.