Ah yes, the great seat recline debate rears its ugly head once again.
Is It “Assault” When You Punch The Seat Of The Passenger In Front Of You?
Legally, assault is intentionally putting another person in reasonable apprehension of an imminent harmful or offensive contact. Physical injury is not required. In most jurisdictions, this does not necessarily have to be person-to-person contact but can be implicated through a medium, like a stick, belt…airline seat?
Wendi Williams was on AA4393, an American Eagle flight from New Orleans to Charlotte. During the flight she reclined her seat. The man behind her told her he was eating and asked her not to recline. She obliged, but reclined the seat again when the man had finished eating.
This upset the man behind her, who responded by punching, tapping, and shaking her seat for the remainder of the flight.
She videoed the mans antics, asserting on Twitter that she been assaulted:
@BravoAndy Here’s a great jackhole! He was angry that I reclined my seat and punched it about 9 times – HARD, at which point I began videoing him, and he resigned to this behavior. The other jackhole is the @AmericanAir flight attendant who reprimanded me and offered him rum! pic.twitter.com/dHeUysrKTu
— wendi (@steelersfanOG) February 9, 2020
She later added:
“After much consideration, and exhausting every opportunity for #AmericanAirlines to do the right thing, I’ve decided to share my assault, from the passenger behind me, and the further threats, from an American Airline flight attendant. She offered him a complimentary cocktail!”
According to Williams, when she complained to a flight attendant the flight attendant responded by rolling her eyes, commenting that legroom was tight, demanding that she delete the video, and finally offering the man a free glass of rum.
Williams claimed:
“Look at his knuckles. He was PUNCHING me prior to the video! It was scary and very painful!”
Well, my little violin is now playing. And yet I am firmly on Williams’ side.
I’m in the camp that you have an absolute right to recline your seat, except during meal service. If someone did that to me, sadly my instinct would be to let the fool think he had won, then slam the chair back as quickly and as hard as I could when he was least suspecting it.
Now, that’s just wrong…I know that would not be right and I wouldn’t do it. But boy would that annoy me, especially if the flight attendant took the man’s side.
Williams did receive a call from American Airlines after her tweet went viral, but was unsatisfied with it. Now she plans to file an FBI complaint and press charges against the passenger.
An American Airlines spokesperson addressed the incident:
“We are aware of a customer dispute that transpired on American Eagle flight 4392, operated by Republic Airways on January 31. The safety and comfort of our customers and team members is our top priority, and our team is looking into the issue.”
CONCLUSION
The man continued to punch her seat even though he knew he was being recorded! That alone is enough to move me to the woman’s side. I know the debate over seat recline rages on and there will likely never be consensus, but hitting the seat in front of you is simply unacceptable.
She might win. We are in a period where culturally we are kissing women’s behind no questions asked.
Maybe she should win because she is right and the guy is an entitled jerk. We all have a choice in selecting our seats and he could have opted for a seat with no one in front of him or an exit isle. To make this a ‘men versus women’ is ridiculous. But since you mentioned it… I can 100% guarantee you he would not have pulled that stunt if it were a man sitting in front of him.
Everyone should try kicking and hitting the seat in front of them and see how fast you get arrested when you get off the flight. It’s assault plain and simple and I’m shocked how this was allowed to happen. Whether she reclined or not is not the issue.
All she had to do was sit up straight. She suffered through pleadings and poundings just to uphold her self pride and then video taped it hoping to raise internet support to bolster her self value. There may be circuitous arguments about who owns the space taken a reclining seat but when it comes to charity and empathy, she has none.
I disagree. Sometimes it is not proper just to roll over and let the bully win…
This happens rarely but I also had a crazy old Croatian woman freaking out and punching my seat for hours because I reclined it. The Qatar FAs were hopeless to dispute the issue for either passenger. The solution is simple. Airlines should adopt a policy and write it on the back of the seats. And that should be “It is the policy of this airline that passengers can recline their seats whenever they like. Please recline slowly so you don’t crush the laptop screen behind you.”
agree
This is on AA and any other limited legspace airline. If the seat is able to recline then it should not be an issue if it does. If recline is a problem then remove that ability.
We’re way too intolerant these days…to recline or not recline, this is the question???
A seat should never be reconned in economy
Ridiculous, you should definitely be able to recline if the seat offers the function. I personally don’t recline, though, except for longer flights, like 5+ hours, and definitely if I’m flying transatlantic or transpacific.
I’m amazed at how everybody misses the point: that is a paid seat with the abilty to recline, and an user with a choice. If the moron doesn’t want to be disturbed, he should buy 1st class seats then. It is that simple.
If this was two men, you would not take the woman’s side. You would say they were both wrong. I think she is wrong for not being considerate. And he was wrong because it’s never good to get physical. What a horrible occurrence. I am a woman but as a person I am saying when the man was offered a drink by the flight attendant the woman in front of him should have understood she was wrong for being obstinate, unkind and without courtesy.
No, I really wouldn’t. I’ve consistently been an advocate for the right to recline your seat, whether it discomforts your seatmate or not.
I find the recline insufficient such that upright is equally comfortable.
Video recording other passengers without their permission might be forbidden.
Punching the seat is not assault but is very annoying. I would be afraid that the passenger behind me would get mad and try to decapitate me so I wouldn’t fight with that passenger. Instead, I would try have the FA allow a seat swap. If the plane had 2+2 seating, perhaps the equivalent seat on the other side has a passenger willing to switch?
If recording the other guy is forbidden then we’d lose a majority of recorded bad behavior
I agree with Ed. She has every right to recline her seat, but her actions have are poor. Just like a seat mate has every right to sing – even if they can’t hold a tune. But I would hope if I asked my seatmate to stop singing because it bothered me, that they out of courtesy, they would stop singing.
Off topic, but in my opinion I actually like low cost carriers that have seats that don’t recline.
She has every right to recline her seat. If he wanted more room spend the money and upgrade your seat. He’s a piece of trash. How could other passengers just sit and watch that happen. That guy is an asshole and if that was me I would have followed him out to the parking lot and beat the crap out of him. Real big man treating a women like that.
Very civil and you have stopped to the level of both uncivil passengers – neither were right.
While I’m firmly in the anti-recline camp, from the way things look the guy is a serious tool. He may have avoided looking up because he didn’t want his face plastered all over the internet. Then again, the woman is frankly no better. Scary? Really? And let’s not forget assault. Add in trying to intimidate the tool guy by taking video of him and the situation just escalates. The woman’s behavior passed weird and childish a long way back. Both sides are so wrong that it’s tough to pick who’s worse. I’d reluctantly say the woman because she’s contacting the FBI over stupid childishness.
Seats are advertised on most airlines, especially in economy class, with the actual pitch of the recline, in their promotion. It’s absolutely absurd in my mind that any paying passenger, especially on a long flight, in the already cramped economy class, should be prohibited from reclining their seat. On a recent economy flight in one of the new compact configurations I found that the only way i could have any room at all for my legs and upper body was to recline the seat, as the person in front of me had done. But upon doing this the guy behind me began to tap my shoulder and ask me to put up my seat— my response to him was a polite no, and that he ought to recline his seat as well if he wanted more space because clearly the cabin layout was designed so that we all could recline, and it was more cabin design than it was personal preference that led us all to want to push our seats back. He relented in my case, but I think it’s absurd that airlines do not clarify the appropriate way seat reclining should be allowed and used. I also find it very disrupting when I’m trying to sleep on a plane with my seat back and a flight attendant rudely awakens me to force me to put the seat up because the person behind me is eating. Airlines should be building legitimate, acceptable seat recline into their offerings, both in service and in design—or eliminate it altogether.
I think she has a pretty good case. It’s not just one push, it’s repeated, hostile, physically jarring, with the intent to intimidate and impose their will. Just because he’s using the seat as the weapon, and not directly his fists, doesn’t change anything.
If the airlines intend to not allow or limit recline in certain rows, then take away the functionality, simple as that. AA jamming so many seats together, especially when some of them can’t recline, is partially to blame as well.
that’s very clearly assault. she will definitely win unless AA somehow appeases her and gets her to not press charges.
imagine if a guy was humping the seat back but not physically touching the woman. that’s very clearly sexual assault. same rationale applies here although he didn’t make physical contact with her.
I am very much in the do not recline camp fwiw
When I encounter someone who’s really nasty, I usually bite my tongue and move on — confident that that nasty person will eventually run into someone like themselves, with results like those described here.
And Princess Wendi can’t manage to exist for 90 minutes without her seat reclined? Really? Something tells me that there’s a lot more to this story and I already tend to favor the guy behind because I have a feeling that the princess was purposely nasty which brought on the anger from behind.
And now she feigns “assault”? Give me a freakin’ break! What an self-entitled little creep.
I have a spine condition that makes sitting straight up (like on an airplane) extremely painful. So yes, it’s possible she can’t exist for 90 minutes without reclining. She mentions elsewhere that she has medical issues and this guy punching the back of her head and neck didn’t help.
Maybe people can stop being ableist jackasses.
No airline should have seats that recline if there is not proper space to do so. It should not have to be something a paying customer have to worry about,but totally the airlines problem. Even if the woman’s seat was reclines,you could tall it was not very much,as she was still sitting up very straight. Even in this world as women have more say and power than they used too,it is still a very intimidating situation to have a angry man mad at you. I am very timid,and I would have felt intimidated by a grown man treating me like this for no reason. The man had a tray in front of his self,and you could tell he also had room between his self and the tray. You could tell by the look on his face that he was very angry,and even in this day and time,yes ,men are still in a position of power over women. Can any man imagine for a second if this guy was doing this to he daughter,wife ,sister ,mother. You would then feel the right response,and that is that the woman was being man handled. The flight attendant did not handle the situation right,and that was to see and feel compassion for all people aboard her flight She had no right to ask this woman to erase her tape,the only line of protection that the woman had at the time. Also to offer the man a drink was clearly taking sides,and a flight attendant should be a peace maker. Shame on her for awarding an angry,hostile man. A true gentleman would never behave this way. It is so sad in the would today,that lack of care and respect we should feel towards each other,and also our helpless animal friends. People seem to have lost the ability to understand right from wrong,compassion,empathy,and to realize there are more important things than winning,and being right. I have inner ear problems,and also back problems,and need to be able to recline my seat back a bit so as not to become sick to my stomach. I consider what this man to have done to be rude,childish,and an assault. I am also happy this woman was able to tape what had happened to her,and also sad that no other man on the plane seemed to stand up for this woman. The airline,and the fight attendant owe this woman an apology,and if you can not recline your seats,then make them so they can not recline,do not leave a passenger in the position of whatever kind of person who may be seated behind you. I am so sad as time goes on to see the coldness,and lack of love and understanding that people feel for each other.
This is what happens when 2 nasty people coincide on a plane; common sense and courtesy disappear, replaced with a childish battle of egos. Pretty pathetic.
They are both in the wrong. She is also a complete nutjob hungry for her 5 mins of fame, judging by her Twitter, and we can only imagine what went on before the video.
Come to think of it, who said you can’t tap the sit in front? I don’t think there are any rules specifically prohibiting it, and claiming assault here is, well, ridiculous.
She was a snowflake passenger. Seriously, why did she need to videotape the guy? Every time video is involved there is clearly a sign she was going after $$$$$
I’d record it too if the FA agreed with the man
The guy is a dick. I hope she wins and he loses his job. Airplane seats recline. Get over it. Just because you’re too fat for the seat isn’t anyone’s fault but your own. The thinly veiled sexism in some of these posts is quite telling. Also the idea that she can’t film him is ridiculous. He’s in a public space he has no such right to privacy.
Absolutely agree!
The most disturbing thing to me about this video is that he’s watching video on his phone with his headphones on, not an activity that her seat recline interferes with, so he’s just retaliating because he doesn’t like it, not because he’s actually uncomfortable or unable to do the activity he wants on the plane. She may be unhinged as well, but his reaction is ridiculous.
Indeed – very unflattering for him – nothing acceptable about his behavior
I’m with Williams. She raised her seat when asked, so the douche… err, I mean, dude could eat. Once he was done, she reclined again. I may not agree with it on short flights, but that’s her right. He was watching a freaking video on his phone and didn’t suffer from her recline.
I think her filming him was justified. Otherwise, it’d be a he-said, she-said situation. Without evidence, would anyone act? Who knows how hard he punched her seat (or how often) before she started rolling?
@Matthew – a few editing mistakes:
“And yet I am firmly on William’s side” *Wiliams’s (or Williams’ – depends on style guide)
“she plans to file and FBI complaint” *an
If you’re tall, as I am, reclining persons ahead result in extreme pain. My knees are against the seat in front even when not reclined. For that reason I book better seating, but sometimes I end up back there. The current pitch of seats on some carriers is totally unrealistic for a significant portion of the population. Have some empathy for those who do not fit and can’t sit elsewhere through no fault of their own
I am on woman`s side. I personally always recline even if it`s only 90 mins on a plane because my back feels better. If someone reclines the seat in front of me, I do the same and I don`t really care if it bothers the other person behind, this is my right and I use it. This guy is an asshole!
They’re both shitty people. No moral high ground to be had here.
Passengers seem to be getting worse/more entitled lately. This reminds me of a time I was on a flight Christmas day and moved so a couple could be together in first class. I didn’t really mind, it’s a holiday after all.
That was until I realized I was sitting next to the most entitled lady on Earth. At the start of the flight, when everyone is boarding she starts fighting the 4th row window seat to get it to lean back. She’s literally sitting here losing her mind, shaking and twitching like a lunatic.
I can ignore that with noise cancelling headphones, but then she taps me on the shoulder. Now she’s trying to rope *me* into her little ball of hatred. She asks me if these seats recline, I politely tell her probably not, since they’re right up against the wall (as logic would conclude). She then launches into a tirade, of how this was unacceptable and she was furious that this was the kind of service she was getting spending her hard earned miles. I’m just looking at her with a glassy eyed tolerance smile, waiting for her to finish.
The plane is still boarding at this point and she leans of me to physically grab a flight attendant as she walked by and proceeds to chew her out because the seat doesn’t recline. I’m sitting here doing everything I can to subtly convey, “I don’t know this human, I’m only here because I decided to be cool to someone else on Xmas.” The flight attendant endures her temper tantrum and said there’s nothing she can do, so she goes back to grousing to me as though IGAF.
Enter the hero. The lady in front of us leans over and says to her, “I don’t recline my seat, we can switch if you two don’t mind.” I reply I really don’t care, she can move if she wants. She informs us (because FML it’s US now) that it’s her and her husband or no deal. I look at the frothy mess who at this point is looking at me like I’m her guardian or some shit and I say, “sure, that’s fine, let’s just wait until all these other people have boarded and then we can switch,” gesturing to the other humans who are just trying to get somewhere.
The line finishes and I gather my stuff a second time and switch. I get up, share bullshit smiles with each other as we all reconfigure for the sake of social convenience.
It was at that moment I noticed I discovered why the “hero” was keen on moving. The seat she was in was actually physically detached from the seat rail on one side and was shimmying back and forth constantly. To add to that, the crazy woman is sitting in her new seat in row 3, and has discovered this seat also does not recline. So she proceeds to again attempt to engulf me in her hate bubble, laying into the flight attendant who tries to help her, but in the end is powerless in the face of this feckless womanchild.
I really don’t like flying anymore.
My wife is 6’2″, in typically economy seat pitches her knees hit the seat in front of her when she sits. Reclining pushes right into her legs. We often just buy up to extra legroom seats but even those can be tight now. If someone reclines into her we politely ask if they can put their seat up and they usually respond. If they don’t then her knees make the reclined seat quite uncomfortable. Luckily we’ve only rarely encountered those with bad behavior
Bad behavior? I am sorry. Did u go two rows up and ask the person up there not to recline also as to not punch the immediate passenger in front of u?
Your height, your discomfort is your problem and your problem only. If a seat reclines, recline it. If the person behind you complains, they are putting their needs ahead of yours; there’s no need to listen.
If they truly have an issue, there are always extra leg room seats.
Well AK, if you’re the jerk in front of me who selfishly insists on rocketing backwards as soon as we hit the runway (without even looking) for a 90 minute flight, you’ll experience my knees in your back. And with that attitude, I might punch your seat. Only I’m bigger than the guy in the video so you’ll really feel it. Dude, your attitude sucks.
And, none of the airlines should have reclining coach seats. That would solve it.
Well, assault is the wrong choice of words and she is taking advantage of the phony #metoo movement to gain attention (as are you, Matthew, for posting this….shameful).
However if someone did this to me when I reclined my seat I would be very upset and escalate the matter.
How do you know she’s using #metoo to justify bad behavior? I’m curious what else you know about the situation. Were police called?
Playing devil’s advocate I’d say that they were travel companions and they’re trying to get a free ride from AA plus more.
@Andy K, “However if someone did this to me when I reclined my seat I would be very upset and escalate the matter.”
Isn’t that exactly what she did? She asked him to stop. She contacted the F/A, who brushed her off. She talked to a ground agent after the flight (I think). She contacted AA. When none of those got results, she went to social media over a week after the incident, giving them time to respond.
“After much consideration, and exhausting every opportunity for #AmericanAirlines to do the right thing, I’ve decided to share my assault…”
And she’s planning on filing a complaint and pressing charges. How would you have escalated the matter? Maybe you wouldn’t have gone the social media route, but otherwise, it seems as though she’s taking the same steps that most people would.
Hey bro
#metoo is about preventing sexual assaults on women, particularly in the workplace.
There’s no connection to this situation.
He didn’t hit her. He jostled the seat. Grow up.
Isn’t the back side of the seat actually his area? His tray table, his seat back pocket, etc. I think if he wants to beat up any part of his seat then he should be permitted as long as the airline doesn’t have a problem. Personally, I’d love to see him headbutt the seat, armrest, etc.
I would have beat the crap out of that guy. I wonder if he would have done the same gesture to a man.
I am 6’4 and 230 lbs.
I”ve seen this many times but not to this extreme. If the airline must put to seats so close together they should disable the recline feature. This will also reduce purchase and maintenance costs.
What I find most interesting is that this is not American …its republic. They never took responsibility for the Dao incident and now this. These regional carriers are horrid.
He’s a dick. If your seat has the ability to recline, you have the right to recline it. His complaint should be with the airline for offering reclining seats or to himself for booking himself in a non-reclining seat.
Repeatedly hitting her seat ??? What a childish, spiteful, selfish thing to do. Unfortunately, just another indication of the growing number of “adults” among us who have no discipline, no ability to deal or cope or even the ability to display good manners — to just ask her to readjust her seat with a little less recline would have been so difficult ?? Well, I guess when your parents don’t teach you these things throughout your early childhood, into your teens, observing other responsible adults, etc., you will be this guy.
Re: ‘AA Passenger Punches Woman’s Reclined Seat’
He Was Watching Porn On His Cellphone…| He Suffers From A Porn Addiction…
On what basis do you make that claim?
The problem is that space between rows has become way too tight to allow for reclining seats. When a seat is reclined in front of you, and you are not a tiny person, it gets almost “suffocating”. For example, Ryanair packs its flights and space between rows is tight, but no seat is reclinable.
It is not ideal, but if the person reclines in front of you, you can recline too. It makes sleeping in coach much more bearable.
Give her nothing, maybe a travel voucher. Put him on a no fly list. Call it a day.
She is out of her mind
https://www.foxnews.com/travel/american-airlines-passenger-press-charges-attendant-fired
I would not fly on an Airline who not only condones this behavior but rewards it. I remember the United Airlines breaks guitars incident. I believe their stock dropped quite a bit. I Wonder if AA stock might drop. airline passengers can choose to fly on any airline they choose.
This is only my personal opinion.