Man Refuses When 6'8" Plane Passenger Begs Him Not To Recline His Chair, Sparking Argument Mid-Flight
He sat upright the entire flight
Song_about_summer / Shutterstock Let’s face it, boarding a plane and sitting through a lengthy flight can be an uncomfortable experience. The cramped space and close proximity to total strangers make an already difficult situation more intense.
A 32-year-old man recently took to the subreddit, AITA to share his experience with a man who stood around 6’8 sitting behind him on a flight.
He ended up in a verbal dispute with the stranger over the plane's legroom.
He starts by saying that he is 5’10 and had considered getting additional legroom for twenty euros (about $21) when he checked in for his flight the night before.
He decided the extra space was unnecessary because the plane was larger and seemed to have sufficient room to recline and sleep during the flight.
Once the flight took off, the person in front of the Redditor reclined their seat which prompted him to do the same. He was taken by surprise when the extremely tall man behind him stopped him from reclining.
The man explained that “he is too big, and the chair reclines into his legs.”
The gentleman was in the middle seat between two other passengers and his long legs had already spread into their space.
The poster griped, “People on both sides of him now have their space invaded by his limbs, and the entire row in front of him can't recline their seats. A total of 5 people around him have minor inconveniences because of his height.”
He then states that he told the man, “Yeah, no problem, I won't recline my seat, but next time you can choose a different seat [so] as to not inconvenience five other people.”
According to him, the man attempted to justify his request, saying he usually gets an aisle seat or an upgrade from the flight attendants but could not for this flight.
The irritable plane passenger then told the tall man, “It isn't the airline's responsibility to give him a seat, and if he knows he doesn't fit in a middle seat he could have chosen an aisle, as there was no charge to choose an aisle seat.”
He also suggested, “He could have upgraded for extended legroom seating for an extra 20 euros” and told readers that the passenger was flying to one of the most expensive cities in the world to insinuate he could afford to pay for the upgrade.
The altercation ended with the man sarcastically thanking the angry Reddit poster for his opinion and both men exchanging fake pleasantries.
The post ends with the man asking if he was wrong for how he handled things.
The public seems to be divided.
A commenter wrote, “Anyone reclining their seats on an economy flight is wrong.”
Another person agreed, stating, “Airline seating (even economy seating) works just fine if nobody reclines, or if everybody reclines. It breaks horribly when the person in front of you reclines and you don't.”
Still, others disagreed with that position. One person said, “Reclining is your right is an airline passenger. If you don't like the person in front of you reclining, it isn't their problem.”
Someone co-signed that comment, posting, “Imagine getting mad at someone for using their seat's feature, that the airline provided, and they paid for.”
NyRee Ausler is a writer from Seattle, Washington, and author of seven books. She covers lifestyle, entertainment and news, and self-focused content, as well as navigating the workplace and social issues.