Community Chat

[SeaMaiden]

I do not fly...this is one of the many reasons why....

[Lucky Charm]

@Annabellethecat66 We have our favorite seats, too, on American.  Just 2 seats by themselves you can literally walk around in a circle completely.  About 4 feet in front of you to stretch out your legs.  Makes 1st class leg room look like the back seat of a Volkswagon Bug.  No one spilling over into your seat or hogging the armrest.  You never have to get up to move for someone. 

They are so worth it, a little pricey, but not as expensive as 1st Class which would be a waste of money on me (food--bleck!, drinks---bleck!).

I had no idea there were different levels (positions) of reclining the seats.  On all the airlines I've been on, they only go back about 3 inches.  If that 3 inches is going to tick someone off, they need to spend $ for better seats.

The thought of someone punching a seat scares me.  I would not want to be stuck on a plane with someone that is that aggravated.

Just watched the video, I bet he *banged* the seat with less force because he knew he was being videos.  He has a screw loose doing that.  How ignorant.  He payed for that seat.  He knew it was in the last row.  Shouldn't have been a surprise to him.  

She did nothing wrong, as I see it.  So what if she videod it.  Someone was shoving her seat.  A seat she paid for.  If they're going to make you ask to recline, fine, I've never asked anyone before.  If I have to I will, but I'm going to be comfortable, too.

[lovescats]

If she spilt a drink on him first I think it would have been better if she was courteous and kept her seat straight for the whole flight.

      When I watched the video again it looks like he has his arm bent at the elbow and his hand in a fist like the seat is hitting his hand when she must be trying to put the seat back and he is trying to keep an elbows length to himself.

         So she wants to sue American airlines  for defamation and wants the flight attendant fired.  She is the one who put the video up.

If this was a flight her work paid for I think should stop and think about what she is doing.

[Venezia]

From the videos I've watched you can tell how hard the jerk is punching her seat by the way her head and earrings are bouncing around.  NOTHING excuses this obnoxious jerk's behavior.  We all know the risks of flying today.  Everyone on that flight paid for his or her ticket and has a right not to be harassed.

As some have said, no way would he have done this, if it was a man sitting in front of him.  He's a bully, pure and simple.

As to the flight attendant doing nothing to deescalate the situation, other than offering the jerk a drink (did she think that would calm him down?), and telling the woman she'd be asked to leave the plane, words fail me.  For asking that someone stop punching her seat?  (I wonder how they would've reacted, if the woman turned around and dumped a glass of water over him to cool him down?)

This is the reality of flying these days, for those without a private jet, and it is the fault of the airlines and their greed.

[RoughDraft]

---

@sissel wrote:

@RoughDraft  yes this has been a problem with seats and my DH says just pay the money for 1st class we hardly fly but it's not fun flying anymore. We are short people so doesn't bother me. What scares me is all the germs that float around in the plane. My cousin gets sinus problems everytime he flys.

---

@sissel   Excellent point about germs too.  It's like flying in a petri dish with the same air being recirculated, expecially on long flights.

It reminds me of the time DH and I picked up his brother from a European flight.  Two days later, BIL developed one killer cold which in turn infected us for a week.  We'll all need face masks whenever we fly or pick up an infected person at the airport.

[ValuSkr]

I haven't seen the video, but from what I've heard, they were both jerks.  But she was the bigger jerk.  Who sits in an airline seat and reclines all the way so they're practically in the next person's lap.  Very inconsiderate.

[Porcelain]

Uh. You're not allowed to punch the seat in front of you in an airplane. That guy would not have been happy if the person sitting behind him had been doing that to him.

Seats in coach hardly recline at all. It's also accepted that you generally don't recline while people have food or drinks on their trays. But it's not any kind of outrageous offense if someone doesn't know that. And they do have the right to do it, so you can ask nicely for them to sit up or stay quiet, but they have the final say in what they do.

So. People are allowed to recline, annoying as it might be. People are not allowed to punch seats. If possible one or the other passenger should have relocated (or been relocated) once the conflict started. The flight attendant should have kept order and did not.

[jeanlake]

I purposely do not recline more than a few inches when I travel. I don't have long legs, but I feel badly for anyone who is feeling trapped and squeezed on full flights. (SCAN THE ROOM, PEOPLE) Getting along with people is A 100/100 percent commitment. 50/50 is a partial attempt. IMO these two people gave 50/50. They just handled it differently. Neither gave enough.

My grad work is in conflict management. Before I dug in and studied the topic, I may have blamed only the overly emotional, punching guy. Reclining lady could have diffused the situation. She didn't. I noticed she also turned on the flight attendant. That should tell us more about reclining lady.  

[jeanlake]

@ValuSkr   Thank you - agree totally. And people -- stop blaming - blaming - and blaming others when your day isn't perfect. It's been a while since I flew on a flight that was NOT full. Changing seats? Two people needed to grow up and compromise.  

[Porcelain]

I don't care how rude someone is to you. You don't break things and you don't throw fists. If you're an adult, and you have an anger problem that you can't manage under stress, don't travel or be around other people until you learn to handle yourself.

Eventually people like that end up dead (earlier than necessary) or in jail. These things aren't isolated to one tantrum, and unchecked they escalate. Dude will have a stroke or hit a cop when someone cuts him off in traffic. Handle your rage or relocate to a cabin by yourself in the Alaskan wilderness.

Edited to add: If someone is rude to you, and you know you're going to blow your top, for your own welfare you need to leave the situation and find someone to help you problem solve. Since the fight attendant wasn't being proactive and strong about separating the people, the guy should have gotten up and gone to a different attendant and asked them to find a solution. You can't solve anything by getting violent. The people who had to sit there and witness this conflict were probably afraid an attack was about to happen.

Planes have flight attendants to handle these issues for you. They have authority in the plane in order to keep order and peace and make sure everyone stays safe. They can have you tied to your seat if you don't listen. They aren't just there to throw european cookies at you.