Charna Flam is a writer-reporter at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2023. Her work has previously appeared on Variety, The New York Post, and The Wrap.
One plane passenger is sharing a controversial interaction her boyfriend had on a recent flight.
On Monday, March 17, a traveler took to Reddit to share an encounter she watched her boyfriend have with a fellow flyer. The original poster (OP) explained that she was flying with her kids and boyfriend, 55. Her boyfriend, she says, paid extra for an aisle seat due to his height.
"I saw him walk up to his seat, and there was someone in it, an older woman with her (I think) granddaughter in the middle seat," the Reddit user wrote. "He walks up and says- 'I think you are in my seat.' "
"They -- with no shame -- said, 'Would you mind sitting at the window seat?' He was like no- 'I paid for the aisle seat because I have very long legs.' And then they said, 'Well she's handicapped so we were hoping that you could sit in the window seat.' He said 'I'd like the seat I purchased.'"
The user claims "they made a big production," even getting out a cane "to move over two seats."
When the older woman got up to use the restroom mid-flight, however, the Reddit user claims that she walked all the way there without issue, noting that it "was probably about 15 rows up."
"She did use a wheelchair to get off the plane, but then we saw her walking around downstairs without the wheelchair," the user wrote before concluding, "Why do people act so entitled?"
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Several users credited the woman's boyfriend in the comment section, saying he was in the right. "The conversation SHOULD have stopped once you said 'no.'"
"Give your boyfriend a high-five for me. 2025 is the year of holding the line on social standards and accountability," another wrote.
Other users, however, felt that the older woman may have had a disability that was not visible to the woman and her boyfriend.
"Some people use wheelchairs in the airport because they have mobility issues that make it difficult to navigate airports but may have no issues on board," one user wrote. Some people have disabilities that are not visible."
Most airlines are required to provide accessible seating to those with disabilities when a special seat is requested while booking, according to the Dept. of Transportation' Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA). This occasionally requires the passenger who needs an accommodation to check in more than 24 hours before their flight or arrive earlier to the airport.
If a passenger has, for example, a "fused or immobilized leg and need a seat that better accommodates" their disability they may be seated in an aisle or bulkhead seat.
If a conflict about seating arises on a plane, it's always best to involve a flight attendant rather than try to resolve the issue between passengers.