Did She Deserve to Have Her Seat Punched?

What would you have done?

A couple of days ago, a video of two passengers on an American Airlines flight went viral. In the video, a woman (named Wendi Williams) reclined her economy class seat into the space of the man sitting behind her. Instead of sticking his knee into her back or sighing loudly as some of us do, the man started punching the back of her headrest. Eventually, they had a short dialogue, after which he started drumming the seat with his palms.

The video took off after the CEO of Delta airlines appeared on CNBC and suggested that passengers who wish to recline their seats should ask permission before doing so.

“I think the proper thing to do is if you’re going to recline into somebody, that you ask if it’s OK first and then you do it” — Ed Bastian, CEO Delta Airlines.

Soon after his statement, a debate spread across all social media platforms to address the issue. Should we be asking permission before reclining our seats? The debate has been fierce, and almost everyone on mainstream media has taken the side of Ms Williams. They feel that the man’s reaction was aggressive and way over the line. So what are the circumstances?

In her defence.

Along with the video, Ms Williams Tweeted about the incident -

“Here’s a great jackhole! He was angry that I reclined my seat and punched it about 9 times — HARD, at which point I began videoing him, and he resigned to this behaviour,”

She later wrote that she’d had extensive surgeries on her neck that have caused her a lot of anguish. She told Inside Edition -

“I flew forward (when he punched the seat), and then I just leaned forward because I knew it was coming.”

Williams further told Inside Edition that she has a fused vertebra that requires her to recline the seat.

The incident took place on a 2-hour flight between New Orleans and Charlotte. Ordinarily, no-one would need to recline their seat on a flight this short, but the situation would understandably be different in the case of a disability. If she really is struggling from a surgery-induced spinal issue, it’s understandable that she would need to sit in a position that gave her the most comfort possible.

Williams goes on to say that the flight attendant was sympathetic to the passenger who was hitting her seat, and not to her. The attendant apologised to him for the inconvenience he was facing and served Williams with a written warning that told her she could be escorted off the flight for her behaviour. (The man was also allegedly offered a complimentary beverage).

Ms Williams is understandably angry at American Airlines for how their flight attendant handled the situation, and we’re still waiting to see how they respond.

In his defence.

I can personally understand the frustration the man felt after Ms Williams reclined, because I’m also someone who’s driven to rage whenever the person in front of me reclines.

I’m 6'3" in height, so it’s an enormous deal when someone reclines into me. It takes up all my space, blocks the seat-mounted screen from view, and feels as though someone is laying in my lap. Because the seats are so small, I have a personal policy that I will never ever recline my seat on a flight no matter what. I’ve never done it except in situations when the seat behind me is vacant, because I couldn’t live with the guilt. Even on a 12-hour flight, I’ll sleep against the window while sitting completely upright. So to say the least, I understand.

People can’t believe that he would go as far as to hit the back of her seat to the point that her head was literally “flying forward,” although it didn’t look that extreme in the video. If he flies often, I think it’s understandable that he’s been driven that far. Flight attendants (in my experience) don’t like to compel people to pull up their seats, and recliners don’t want to be told to un-recline.

If this has happened to him enough times in a row, we may have witnessed the moment that he finally snapped and couldn’t take it anymore. Williams claims that she’s now in daily pain because of the incident, but at the time she didn’t pull up her seat to make him stop. Possibly because of conviction, or because of her disability.

If her disability is real, she could have booked her flight through American Airlines Special Assistance Coordinators. These are the booking agents tasked with placing people on flights in strategic and purpose-built seats that can recline (without impacting other people) or are more easily accessible.

I know if I had a disability with the potential of causing me daily pain unless I recline into an economy class seat, I wouldn’t be booking the seat myself. I’d be calling anyone I could to get a seat where I don’t risk my health, and don’t rely on the kindness of strangers. If I couldn’t make it work under those conditions, I just wouldn’t fly.

To sum it up

In case you couldn’t tell, I’m on the side of the man who hit the seat. I suspect that we witnessed his breaking point after being unable to handle yet another person reclining into his space.

I’ve had horrible experiences of being reclined into, and it feels nothing short of an invasion of privacy.

I think the people really at fault are the ones making the aircraft. Building seats that are capable of reclining this far is asking for trouble.

We know it’s never going to change because the CEO’s are never flying in any cabin other than first-class (or more likely a private jet). Delta CEO Ed Bastian further told CNBC

“I never recline because I don’t think it’s something, since I’m the CEO of the airline, that I should be reclining my seat, and I never say anything if someone reclines into me.”

Buddy, you’re not fooling anyone. I don’t believe you’ve even seen an economy class seat in 20 years, and if you had, you’d be horrified.

The seats shouldn’t recline because there just isn’t the space. This should become yet another luxury afforded to those in business/first class, and those who are disabled and need to recline for their health.

If we can only afford economy (as most of us can), we should just sit up as we do on the bus, especially on a 2-hour trip.

The argument many make is that she “can” recline so she should be allowed to. Just because you can do something, it doesn’t mean you should. I can stand nose to nose with someone on the subway during my morning commute, but I never would. It would be inappropriate and an invasion of someone else’s space, just like reclining in an economy class seat.