A viral social media post has sparked controversy over in-flight etiquette after a US-based techie said a passenger asked her to change seats on an international flight.Saran Shanmugam, director of information technology at the Indian-American and Biophysical Society, was traveling to India on a Middle Eastern airline. He had already booked an aisle seat for comfort during the long flight. He said a co-passenger, an Indian man, requested Shanmugam to change his aisle seat so that the man’s brother, who was sitting in the middle seat in the second row, could sit together.Shanmugam refused the request. “I just said no. He approached a male manager and started making demands. The steward removed him from the plane while his entire family watched. After a few minutes, he was allowed inside. He never again heard me peep or look at him. “I assumed the airline staff had ensured a lifetime commitment to them,” Shanmugam wrote in a post on X.The passenger’s insistence reportedly resulted in a brief intervention by the airline crew. According to Shanmugam, the man was removed from the plane for a short time before being allowed back on. After returning, the passenger made no further attempts to negotiate with Shanmugam regarding the seat swap.The incident quickly went viral, with social media users debating passengers’ rights, seat etiquette and how to handle disputes on board. Many commentators supported Shanmugam for retaining his pre-booked seat, while others discussed whether accommodating fellow passengers during flights is a polite practice.
Social Media Reactions:
- I also always book my seat in advance because I like the route. Once I switched with a mom who wanted to sit with her young children. I really think people need to learn to book their seats in advance to avoid any hassles.
- I have faced this many times. My response has always been that I would trade my aisle seat for another aisle seat period.
- Reasonable requests are fine (this wasn’t). I’ve been on both ends of it. I have given my seat several times and once IndiGo had mentioned requesting for it.
- Old times when aunties asked to take back lower berths, when ordinary Indians could still travel in trains. Or asking if an irritable child could share the lower berth with me because the family had not purchased a ticket for the child.