A woman has reignited the debate over airplane etiquette after getting into a screaming match with a fellow passenger as she accused them of ‘pushing her seat repeatedly’ when she reclined it.
The ‘scream’
TikTok user Graham Nancarrow was the first to upload a video of the fighting to the video-sharing platform.
And while he has since taken it down, someone named Ian Miles Cheong reposted it on X, formerly known as Twitter, where it went viral, gaining more than 2.7 million views and launching a major argument over who was in the wrong.
It’s unclear when the incident took place or where the flight was headed, but in the video, the unnamed woman could be heard yelling at the man sitting behind her, ‘The whole trip she pushed my seat. You’ve seen it. You know she did.’
‘I’m allowed to put my seat back,’ the woman repeatedly screamed at her fellow traveler.
‘She’s allowed to put her seat back. You don’t get to kick it repeatedly just because you want more space,’ Ian captioned the clip.
Netizens react
The video racked up thousands of responses from viewers, some of whom agreed with Ian and sided with the woman, and others who said it was ‘an unspoken thing’ that you shouldn’t put your seat back in coach because it’s ‘so cramped and tight’ already.
‘Putting your seat back in coach is an unspoken thing most people don’t do. It’s really the airlines’ fault because they’ve made coach so cramped and tight that putting the seat back shouldn’t even be an option,’ one person responded.
‘I mean, if she wasn’t allowed to put her seat back then why was the seat adjustable?’ asked someone else.
‘They add the recline seat button for a reason. It actually cost the airline extra money to provide this feature, it’s meant to be used,’ another agreed.
‘Kicking the seat is just a whiny childish move,’ read a fourth tweet.
A fifth said, ‘She’s saying the truth. But it’s also true it sucks the person in front of you puts its seat back.’
‘That extra two inches of recline on most planes does nothing. Airliners should do away with recliners in coach,’ suggested a different viewer.
One person praised the woman for ‘standing her ground,’ while another called her ‘pathetic’ for ‘inconveniencing’ the person behind her.
Back in June, an etiquette expert weighed in on the topic, and she slammed those who put their chairs back on flights.