A United Airlines passenger was captured on video repeatedly throwing his body into his seat for nearly two hours, apparently upset that the very tall passenger behind him was blocking his ability to recline. Whatever the reason, this is not how adults behave on airplanes.
United Passenger Repeatedly Body Slams Seat For Two Hours In Bizarre Inflight Meltdown
A bizarre video from a United Airlines flight shows a passenger repeatedly slamming his body backward into his seat, apparently frustrated that he could not recline.
The incident reportedly occurred on United flight UA1377, an early morning flight from Denver (DEN) to Chicago O’Hare (ORD). The video was posted by a passenger seated nearby, who said the man repeatedly slammed his body into the seat every few minutes for two hours straight.
The reported reason? The passenger seated behind him was 6’7” and his knees were apparently pressed into the seatback, preventing or limiting recline.
Man threw a tantrum on our 6am flight
by
u/there_was_a_mollusk in
unitedairlines
That may be annoying, but it does not justify acting like a toddler in a car seat!
According to the passenger who posted the video, the tall man sitting behind the seat-slammer was “completely unbothered,” even as the seat kept hitting his knees. The poster added that the flight attendant was aware of the situation, but the most bizarre part was the lack of communication from the man who was clearly upset.
If your seat will not recline because the person behind you is very tall, ask the flight attendant for help. Politely explain the problem. Ask whether another seat is available. Ask if the person behind you can shift slightly. Or (radical thought, I know!) accept that on a short Denver to Chicago flight, you may not be able to recline.
What you should not do is repeatedly launch your body backward into the seat like you are a little child.
Recline Is A Right, But Not A License To Be A Jerk
I generally take the position that if an airline installs reclining seats, passengers are entitled to recline them. I know some people disagree, especially in economy class, but the seat has a recline button for a reason.
That said, rights still require a little common sense.
If the person behind you is unusually tall and physically cannot avoid having his knees pressed into your seatback, maybe the problem is not that he is “stealing” your recline. Maybe the problem is that airlines have squeezed too many seats into cabins and human beings are not all built to fit neatly into 30 inches (or even 34 inches in this case since it was EconomyPlus) of pitch.
This is where flight attendants can help, but only if passengers behave like adults long enough to ask for help…
There may have been no perfect solution. On a hub-to-hub route maybe the flight was full and maybe no one wanted to swap seats. But repeatedly body slamming the seat accomplished nothing except making the man look ridiculous.
I’m a bit dismayed here that the flight attendants did not tell this jerk to cease and desist or be arrested upon landing for battery (and maybe even assault if the tall guy feared this would continue and cause injury).
CONCLUSION
A United passenger reportedly spent two hours repeatedly slamming his body into his seat because the very tall passenger behind him may have prevented him from reclining.
While I understand the frustration and also understand why tall passengers hate economy class, slamming your seat backward every few minutes is childish, disruptive, and potentially damaging.
If your seat will not recline, ask for help. If help is not available, endure the short flight like the rest of us.
The 6’7” passenger behind him reportedly remained completely unbothered. Good for him. Sometimes the best response to ridiculous behavior is refusing to engage with it.
Hat Tip: PYOK
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
What poor behaviour! It is disappointing that as a country we continue to reach new lows in (un)civility.
I don’t this is recline, but poor seat design. The pax in front is feeling the full pressure of the knees of the guy behind in his back the entire time. These seats are bad for that, even a small pressure from behind is felt in the seat in front.
“Sometimes the best response to ridiculous behavior is refusing to engage with it.”
And, sometimes, an even better response is to film the a-hole and post it for internet clout and engagement!
*wink*
Do you think the front passenger may have thought the seat was a typical seat malfunction ?
How come no one thought that these two could exchange seats
I’ve seen these idiots before. They think by slamming harder they can get more recline out of it.
Maybe this was the passenger’s interpretation/attempt at self-flagellation ?
..lol
Ridiculous that the F/As allowed this to continue & risk vandalizing the seat …
Influential comment → “Sometimes the best response to ridiculous behavior is refusing to engage with it.”
This is yet another of countless situations that require assistance from the cabin crew to gently resolve the problem…
Why did the cabin crew choose to absentee themselves from this? How useless.
Rudeness, crude language, and incivility has become worrisomely commonplace and accepted. This disturbing acceleration began c.2015 when one person’s openly obnoxious behaviors were used for political advancement and as a contrast to the erudite nature of his immediate predecessor.
This reminds me when I was in the window seat and the person in the middle seat told me that the armrests are his, that’s the rule, ask the flight attendant! I told him there is no such rule, it’s shared, I welcome him to ask the flight attendant. He proceeded to lay both arms completely covering the armrest for nearly the entire flight as if he was tied down or something. It looked very uncomfortable. I told him my elbow is going to go somewhere either the armrest or on top of his arm. It was actually a little more comfortable because I’ve always felt the armrests are too low. He started to flail his arm to make it harder to read my phone that was in that hand. I guess he didn’t realize I could just switch hands. It’s amazing what people will believe from watching a few tik tok videos
I would have offered the 6’7″ passenger another seat perhaps a bulkhead seat, emergency exit row or, a free upgrade to first class. I think the person in Economy Plus exhibited abusive behavior and I would have warned him if his behavior continued, the flight would be diverted and he would be arrested, charged and fined.