A woman at her airport gate is using up not just her own seat but the surrounding space, too, squatting with her belongings. There’s not enough space to go around, and other passengers are frustrated.

Someone (“the first guy”) asks her to move her stuff so another person can sit. She “flipped out.” Then another passenger asks her more firmly. And he doesn’t back down, taking the space and giving her a talking to – which “humbles” her – and onlookers applauded.

According to a bystander, she’d been acting rudely for about five minutes. Airport staff made a half-hearted attempt to intervene but didn’t succeed where this man did.

@steffycontessa This girl watched multiple people look at that seat and sat there laughing refusing to move her stuff. The first guy that asked she flipped out on… The second guy was not playing with her She was SOOO mad when we started applauding. This was happening for five minutes. Staff had even stepped in and she had scared them off. This man was so gentle and patient for a long time. Yes, there are other empty seats but when asked to move their stuff other people did. #fyp #foryoupage #fafo #airport #Washingtondc #spoiled #humbled ♬ squabble up – Kendrick Lamar

Airport gates are frequently crowded without enough seats. This is because of history and design.

• Airports make money from concessions, not seating. Retail, food, and duty-free shops bring in rent, and airports usually take a cut of sales, so terminals are designed to maximize passenger flow into stores rather than leaving big gate areas for seating. (That’s why several airports, like DFW and Chicago O’Hare, actually removed moving walkways – since those caused passengers to speed past stores instead of wandering in.)

• Gates are expensive real estate, and busy airports push for high utilization. Multiple flights may be scheduled at the same gate within a short time, creating bursts of passengers far larger than the seating footprint was meant to hold.

• Passengers tether to gates. Even when other seating is available nearby, people want to sit right at the gate to be first in line, to hear announcements, or to watch the counter for standby and upgrade clearing. This creates crowding even if the terminal has plenty of total seating.

• Operational Irregularities. Delays, rolling cancellations, and missed connections keep more people in the gate area than expected. A gate designed to cycle one aircraft every hour may suddenly be holding three flights of passengers at once.

• Designed to planes with fewer seats and lower load factors. Many airports were designed decades ago, before load factors consistently ran in the 85–90% range and before planes were densified with more seats (11 years ago an American Airlines 737 had 150 seats, now it has 172). What was “enough” seating in the 1980s or 1990s no longer fits today’s packed cabins.

Charlotte airport

Charlotte airport

Not only that, but the seats aren’t configured for how people behave. And that means each seat doesn’t cover as many passengers.

• There’s nowhere for people to put their belongings, so they place those on seats beside them. Even seats with a simple hook with obviate the need to use a seat for your jacket.
  
• People want personal space, and are reluctant to sit beside someone – so they often leave a space when sitting down. Sitting down between two people can be awkward, and those people don’t want it either which is why they spread out over into the seats beside them as though they’re saving space on a Southwest flight.

Washington National

Washington National

Meanwhile, why do so many airports all seem to have the same seats?

Airport seating is built to withstand constant heavy use by thousands of people a day. Materials like metal frames and vinyl or leather-like upholstery are chosen because they’re resistant to spills, tearing, and easy to clean.

And they’re modular. Airports can install them in long rows, move them around, or swap out damaged sections without replacing the whole set. The look is intentionally generic. Airports don’t want trendy furniture that will look dated in five years. A neutral black/grey seat with metal arms “fits” anywhere from Miami to Minneapolis.

Airports usually source seating through standardized contracts. Vendors compete for multi-airport or multi-year supply deals, so once one wins, you see the same product everywhere. The armrests are deliberate: they prevent people from lying across multiple seats, which helps keep capacity available in crowded gate areas.