A woman was left furious when a fellow plane passenger tried to ban her from using one of the features of her seat on an overnight flight, meaning she struggled to get any sleep
Trying to keep everyone happy on a flight isn’t always easy. Planes are notoriously uncomfortable places, as you often don’t have much space to spread out and relax, and you’re surrounded by strangers for several hours. Not to mention that these strangers can often have bad manners that make the whole trip a painstaking ordeal.
But one woman was left feeling “shaken up” after a recent flight on which she was confronted by another passenger who was furious at her for attempting to use one of the features available to everyone on the aircraft. The other passenger told her she couldn’t recline her seat – despite the flight being an overnight one where almost everyone wanted to sleep.
In a post on Reddit, the woman explained she tried to recline her seat so that she could go to sleep, but her chair “popped back upright” as the other woman behind her was “shoving it forward” to prevent her from reclining.
The woman eventually got her seat to recline, but the other passenger was livid – accusing her of reclining “too far back”.
She wrote: “I tried to recline my seat, and it popped back upright. I tried again and realised the lady behind me was shoving my seat forward. I tried again, and she yelled at me that I couldn’t recline my seat.
“I was very shaken up by the interaction, so I just stayed upright for like 10 minutes until I could see a flight attendant nearby. I was able to quickly recline and have my chair click into place so she couldn’t shove it forward.
“She raised her voice at me again, and I told her everyone on the whole plane gets to recline their seat. She said I was reclining too far back, though I told her my seat was in the same position as the person sitting in front of me.”
The woman said the ordeal made her feel “so uncomfortable” and stopped her from getting much rest on the plane.
She also clarified that the woman was “petite” so shouldn’t have been affected by the reclined seat, especially as a taller man next to her was also telling her to “calm down”.
Commenters on the post were sympathetic to both sides of the situation.
Many said that it’s a “doomed situation” either way as planes often don’t have enough legroom for people to be comfortable when seats are reclined, but conceded that it’s a passenger’s choice whether to recline their own seat or not.
One person said: “It’s such a doomed situation all around. [With] some people, you are literally crushing their legs, and it’s horrifically uncomfortable to sit fully upright if you nod off. Aeroplane hell.”
Another added: “Airlines are responsible for our conflict. Either give all of us more room or remove the reclining seat option.”
While a third posted: “If the seats are able to recline, people are going to recline in them… it’s a pretty simple concept. Sorry you had to deal with that passenger, but I’m glad you kept your seat reclined.”