No good deed goes unpunished. A father’s attempt to swap aisle seats with a fellow passenger backfired, drawing debates on airplane etiquette. The controversial ordeal became viral after being exposed on social media two months ago.
Taking to her TikTok page on March 11, Alex Bennet posted a video where she recalled how a father asked a fellow plane passenger to swap seats with him so that he could sit with his two children.
Alex, who runs two podcasts, explained: “I witnessed the most insane plane behavior on the way here.”
In the video, which amassed nearly 300,000 views, the podcaster explained that she was sitting behind a man in the aisle seat when a father walked up to the man with his two children and asked if he could take his seat.
A father’s well-intentioned effort to swap aisle seats with a fellow passenger led to him being forced to sit in the middle seat
Image credits: Angelov/stock.adobe.com
Image credits: kasto/stock.adobe.com
“He’s like: ‘Hey man, my kids have [the] middle and window [seats], and I’ve got this aisle across. Do you mind swapping me aisle to aisle?’” Alex recalled.
Upon inquiring whether the father would exchange his purchased aisle seat for another aisle seat opposite them, Alex observed a moment of hesitation from the father before he responded.
The TikToker said: “The dad pauses and he said: ‘Middle or aisle? Yeah, aisle,’” before adding that the man responded that swapping was “no big deal.”
Alex Bennet exposed the incident in a viral TikTok video
Image credits: www.tiktok.com
As the father sat down in the aisle seat with his two children, a female passenger walked up “about 10 seconds” later to the guy who had accepted the swap, remarking that he was sitting in her aisle seat.
Alex recounted that the man tried to explain that he had traded with “that guy who said he was the aisle seat,” pointing toward the father-of-two, who was staring at his phone and seemingly didn’t look up on purpose.
The friendly passenger was forced to take the dreaded middle seat. “I think he knew it,” the TikToker said of the dad.
Image credits: justalexbennett
Nevertheless, the man “could not have been nicer” and accepted his fate and switched to the middle seat in the row.
“I totally understand a dad wanting to sit with his kids, no question,” Alex said. “But I think you gotta tell the guy: ‘I’m middle. I need a solid here because I need to sit with my kids.’
“But you can’t say you’re the aisle and then the girl’s addressing it.”
Alex explained that she was sitting behind a man in the aisle seat when a dad came up with his two kids and asked if he could take his seat
Image credits: justalexbennett
The video, which was captioned “Airplane etiquette is crazy,” ignited heated reactions, as a TikTok user commented: “A plane is the only place you won’t catch me being a people pleaser.
“My seat is my seat.”
Another person wrote: “Dad would have been back on his middle seat!”
Image credits: justalexbennett
Someone else penned: “I never understand when parents don’t PURCHASE all of the seats together…they expect everyone who ACTUALLY PAID for their seats to move….”
An additional commentator argued: “Deal breaker.
“If he wouldn’t be willing to switch back, a flight attendant would be called.”
The friendly passenger was forced to take the dreaded middle seat after a woman said the aisle seat was hers
Image credits: justalexbennett
A separate individual chimed in: “Will never let someone take my seat for any reason.
“If they wanted to sit together pay for it.”
Travel etiquette is a popular topic, often brought up by well-documented incidents, as exemplified by Savannah Sterling, a window-seater.
@justalexbennett Airplane etiquette is crazy #airplanes #airplanestories ♬ original sound – Alex BennettBack in December 2023, the TikToker shared a clip where she exposed a passenger who kept invading her private space so he could take photos of her view out the airplane window.
The footage, which quickly went viral, showed an uncomfortable Savannah staring at the plane’s window as an older man in the middle seat repeatedly reached past her face so he could snap photos of the view outside with his phone.
The video continued to spark outrage on social media
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