Man Cheered for Why He Refused To Let Passenger Take Empty Seat on Flight

A man who refused to allow a woman to sit next to him on a flight, despite the seat being empty, has been showered with praise online. The husband and wife were taking an eight-hour flight from Dublin, Ireland, to Washington, D.C., in a middle and window seat, and thought they had struck gold when they realized nobody was sitting in the aisle seat, and he took it himself. Read more: The Best Credit Cards to Save on Airfare But halfway through the journey, a woman "announced" that her friend would be taking the spare middle seat to get away from a crying baby—and he was having none of it. Taking to Reddit's "Am I The A******", the man wrote via his account Dog_Dad_1989: She did not ask — she told us this was happening. There were about 3 hours of flight time remaining." He asked the woman whether the flight attendants had given her permission to move seats, and she said they had. But to be sure, he called an attendant over and learned "the agreement was that they could take an available aisle seat but could not disrupt anyone's seating arrangements." The woman argued that he had been assigned the middle seat but moved to the aisle because it happened to be free, "so I shouldn't even have that aisle seat." But he argued back: "I had been sitting there for almost 5 hours and we had already distributed our items all over the row." Read more: Which Airlines Have the Best (or Worst) Fees? The man eventually won the case, with the woman declaring her friend "would not be sitting there — not because she was not allowed to but because I was so incredibly rude." Newsweek has reached out to Dog_Dad_1989 for additional comment. The woman also used some choice profanities against him, leading the man to ask Reddit if he had really been in the wrong. Hundreds of Reddit users responded with the answer: No. One user said he was NTA [not the a******], and that getting the flight attendant involved was "the right move. Their reaction was uncalled for," they wrote. Another pointed out it was "plainly obvious when a couple have lucked out on a full row of 3. Who in their right mind would consider trying to plonk themselves in the middle?" And another agreed: "First come, first serve." But one user believed that "ESH [everyone sucks here]," the woman for her "attitude and rude behavior" and also the man for taking up a seat he wasn't paying for—and accused him of only contacting the flight attendant as he was hoping they "would not permit her to move."

Seating arrangements on flights can often be a point of contention, but Jo Hayes, etiquette expert and founder of EtiquetteExpert.Org, told Newsweek that the man "did exactly the right thing," praising him for "remaining calm and civil in the face of extremely rude" and abusive language. While she can "sympathize" with the woman sitting beside a crying baby, the flight attendant should have been the one to inform the man that the woman had permission to change seats, she said, and "like it or not, the man would have had to accept this decision." Hayes believes that contacting the flight attendant was "not rude of him," and added that if everyone moved seats without approval, "flights would be chaos." She added: "The lady across the way, releasing a stream of profanities, did her, or her friend—the lady wanting to change seats—no favors. It served only to highlight her own rudeness. "The man did the right thing by keeping his eyes on his screen, remaining calm and civilised, and not rising to the bait, by responding to her foul language." She concluded: "Let us always remember that respect, for oneself and others, is a 'life rule' that applies to every situation." Do you have a travel-related video or story to share? Let us know via life@newsweek.com and your story could be featured on Newsweek.