A passenger boarded their American Airlines flight and found a child sitting in their seat. He paused, double checked the row, and is ready to let the child keep the seat-provided the parent asks politely.
However the parent wouldn’t ask nicely. They acted as though the seat was theirs by right. They wouldn’t apologize or make a request. So the passenger whose seat it was declared, “Since you want to do it that way, give me my seat.”
- A woman a few rows away snaps, “You’re doing too much—we’re tired of hearing about it.” The man fires back with profanity. A nearby flight attendant tells the woman to “mind your business.”
- The aircraft can’t push back until everyone is seated, so this needs to be resolved. The air conditioning is off. APU bleed air isn’t on until doors close. It’s hot, getting hotter, and patience runs thin.
- Several other passengers urge the man with the boarding pass and a right to the seat to “just sit anywhere” so they can leave. But he won’t. He paid for that seat assignment.
One flight attendant tells bystanders to stay out of it, while another suggested removal of the passenger (‘Well, he can always get off’). Eventually, though, the parent moves the child, the passenger sits in his original seat, and the flight can push back.
@lalawright2 Respectfully they should’ve asked him if it was coo first cause he did pay for that seat.
Another passenger on the flight, who shared video of the incident to TikTok, narrated how things unfolded. And she concludes – after some salty language – that the parent tried to “pop their privilege,” got called on it, and American Airlines handled it poorly.
@lalawright2 here y’all go
American ostensibly guarantees children up to age 14 will be seated next to an accompanying adult at no extra charge. That’s sometimes not easy – there may not be open seats available to organize that. If a family shows up split across rows, volunteers are usually requested. Passengers aren’t supposed to just commandeer a paid seat assignment from another passenger.
The airline is trying to kick off fewer passengers, though, so this story had a happy ending with everyone reaching that plane’s destination.
More rage-bait like this, please. And, do ‘up’ the outrage. If we can add race, partisanship, pets on planes, and something about the Middle East, that’d be swell. Oh, and AI slop. Yes!
I continue to be distressed by the general lack of civility in the travel behavior of Americans (aka people residing in the US). Yes, I know that some other nations are worse, but, hey, there was a time after the Wild West when Americans behaved better. But now Americans seem to have reverted TO the Wild West once again … and the federal government has now even made Wild West behavior normative! Shameful. I also continue to avoid American Airlines (and its ilk) for the very reason that it seems to be among the least capable of the airlines at managing that behavior. I’m thankful that I don’t have to fly it with any regularity, and I certainly and intentionally avoid it whenever I can.
@odot2 — Eh, it’s all relative; these days, we have smart phones, can readily record ‘incidents,’ and that leads to the ‘virality’ of the ‘misbehavior.’ For all the hubbub, ask yourself: When did you last experience anything like this personally? It’s rare. Most folks are still decent people, trying their best.
and airline guarantees for families sitting together requires that the passenger ask for it and accept a seat that may – and perhaps likely – be further back than their original seat.
not sure AA can be blamed w/ the info available in this article other than that their FAs were not more direct in resolving the situation – but managed to do so w/o a confrontation.
good for the man w/ the seat assignment for not bowing to crowd pressure
@1990. Agree with you 100%.
@Tim Dunn — Why not ‘humble’ ourselves on-occasion. I’m sure we’ve all been through enough IROPS, stand-by, take a middle seat ‘in the back,’ just to get ‘home’ under the circumstances. Sure, I prefer a recliner and meal, but gimme a Biscoff or a stroop waffle, maybe a Jack & Coke, that’ll do. Bah!
No. He doesn’t have to. The man paid for that seat. Along with dogs I’d like to see fewer entitled parents imposing their children on us.
@Odot2 the the you are referring ti what when people of privilege in America aspired to be more like those who, at the time, were in the top of the political, cultural and societal food chains.
Now that we are near the top our values have been corrupted. When we’re told daily that wealth and power and the end points why wouldn’t we expect people to act like this?
the one time I was gracious and swapped seats … I quickly realized why .. the man in the center had spent a couple hours in the smoking lounge, his clothes, him .. drenched, and I’m kinda allergic to cigarette smoke! And it was an international flight! And the plane was packed. In this instance, the carrier sold THAT seat to him … how dare somebody presume to ‘appropriate’ it. (a nice $10 legal phrase) No question who was in the right!
Welcome to privilege, where everyone exerts and refuses to honor…whose is it?
Why why anyone flies on American airlines is beyond comprehension.
@Parker — Bingo! Fish rots at the head!
@David R. Miller – There are these unfortunate things called hub fortresses where, very often, the locals have no other practical choice.
Don’t blame the male passenger at all. Obviously the two African Queen F/A’s were on his side too.
@Coffee Please — Bah! Thank you for the assist on my initial comment above. It’s a race!
The parents realistically were in the wrong, they shouldn’t have just taken the seat — and when he offered it if they’d just been like “Sorry about that, thanks for the seat” — if all he wanted was a token statement of gratitude, I mean really, just say it.
On the other hand — since he was willing to give up the seat anyway. He could have just given up the seat. I’m not saying he “should” have, or should have been expected to. It’s his seat and he paid for it. That said, if the parents were actively rude about it I could absolutely see planning to give them the seat then changing my mind.
Good times all around!
If an airline charges for a seat assignment, and a passenger pays for it, there should be no question about who is entitled to the seat. If the airline wants to let certain groups sit together and have already sold the seats needed, they should have to buy the seat back (and if demand is high, they may have to pay more than they sold it for). Airlines make more money in fees than they do on tickets.
I support Dan’s comment as the market-driven solution to the problem. It’s on the same spectrum as paying the person in front of you not to recline their seat.
@Mano — Great ‘name’ for someone advocating for the ‘invisible hand’ of the market.
This is why I no longer fly: people suck. Sure, driving takes longer, but I am the commander of my ship and don’t have to deal with such petty bs. And since the world now hates Americans (can’t blame them for that), I won’t be traveling internationally anywhere.
Pets are the worse.. I have had a passenger with a full grown Dow next to me. The dog was so big he took up half my foot space. The airlines need to ban animals this size from the cabins. But then American Airlines have a much lower standard than most foreign airlines.
Just because the PAX can breed like a Rabbit does not mean they can be a parent. Anyone at CPS can tell you that parents do not always know best.
.
The PAX with the kid can take another flight.
here’s a thought, maybe entitled mom can ask the person next to her child’s seat to swap? oh wait, that would mean she couldn’t use her entitlement and have to stoop to asking …
@Mike C — Bah! Another one! @Coffee Please covered race, now you’ve got pets covered. Will anyone dare take a stab at the Middle East? Waiting…
I detest the “I’m not going to ask, I’ll just take the seat crowd.” But, almost as bad are the kibbitzers. You know, someone wants you to take their 17B seat so they can have your 8C seat for their kid/partner/friend. You don’t want to. The person in 9C belittles you for not trading. Of course 9C wouldn’t have traded. And, if you suggest 9C take 17B, and you’ll move from 8C to 9C, 9C, of course, thinks that’s an unrealistic request.
@This comes to mind — Oh, aren’t we all ‘kibbitzers’ on here at this point. Like, most VFTW comment sections are 90% unsolicited advice, hot takes, a little heated banter, some inside jokes, and a few ‘noobs’ with occasional authentic questions about travel, etc.
Wait a minute, maybe this whole situation really is like the Middle East after all… we’re fighting over territory, which each person thinks is theirs… and, for a similar sounding word, ‘kibbutz,’ might fit in here, as in, some of the ‘settlements’ in Judea and Samaria (also referred to as the ‘West Bank’).
Think of it. You’ve long been told, thousands of years (since you booked your flight), that this land (these seats) were yours, but, someone is already there… does anyone else see this?!
I guess what I’m saying is… violence. That’s always the answer. /s
In every single story I see like this, the passenger wanting a person to give up their seat is proposing to trade their worse assignment for somebody else’s better one. Often a paid seat. Nobody EVER asks a person in the back row, hey, would you like to move to the front? This happened to me: a woman with a small dog realized the carrier wouldn’t fit under seat in front of her aisle seat, so she just sat in my (paid) window seat. She could have moved to the middle, which had plenty of under-seat space: the person in that seat would have surely jumped at the trade. But no, she tried to commandeer my window seat — for which I paid $48. I stood my ground, and she did move, without pitching a fit. (I fly that airline a lot and I pay for window seats in part for the view, and in part because I want the underseat space for my own bag.) In my story, a guy in a row behind us piped up, hey I’ll take the aisle! Super nice of him! Turns out he was giving up his middle. Karma FTW.
I am 100% on the side of rhe person who paid for the seat, up to and including .his requesting common courtesy and respect as part of it. HOWEVER… speaking as someone who works a customer facing position, the instant you start with the profanity, you’ve lost me. He could have handled it, and rhe result would have been rhe same, had he not started hurling profanities at people.
This is why you need to board as early as possible. And if someone is in your seat then ring the call button and hold your place until it is fixed.
Just say “I’m sorry company policy won’t permit me to change seats”