A passenger who was seated next to a “tall man” on a long-haul flight took to social media to ask users what they would have done if they were uncomfortable.
The user wrote, “I understand how uncomfortable he must have felt, but I also have relatively broad shoulders and was confined to half of my seat with an armrest for an entire 5-hour flight.”
“I would never want to embarrass him or make a scene, but for future reference is there anything that could have been done?” the user asked.
On the Reddit forum “unitedairlines”, users shared their experiences and suggestions.
One user said: “This happened to me recently. The armrest could go down, but otherwise it was spilling into my seat.”
Another chimed in: “It happened to me last year and I regretted the whole five-hour flight. As soon as they went down, I would go right out and talk to an FA [flight attendant] for the movement.”
“I always get a window seat when I fly economy because I can rely on it to sleep or get out of a big middle seat,” said one person.
Another user said that the blame should not be placed on others, but that the problem is due to the size of the sites.
“Write an email to the airline… The problem isn’t any of you, it’s that the airlines take us for absolutely everything and give us nothing,” they said.
Fox News Digital reached out to United Airlines for comment on the matter.
“It has to be accepted first and usually the offending party will accept and apologize,” said one user. “Assuming you can’t switch to another seat, you have the option to disembark and switch to a later flight.”
The same user added, “You can get [flight attendant] the offender is engaged and ejected (especially if the armrest cannot be lowered).
One user said that sitting next to a large person is not a major concern when flying.
“I may be in the minority, but as long as [the person has] good hygiene then I don’t care”, one person posted.
One user added: “While there are definitely ‘better’ and polite ways to do this, in almost all scenarios you go to the FA.”
Alison Cheperdak, founder of Elevate Etiquette in Washington, DC, told Fox News Digital via email that it’s important to be respectful of a fellow passenger even if you’re uncomfortable.
“It’s important to be aware of the other person’s space and considerate and realistic about the situation,” Cheperdak said. “If a flight is full, you may be out of luck, but it doesn’t hurt to privately ask a member of the flight crew if it’s possible to switch seats before you depart.”
Cheperdak said “it’s better to ask privately, for example by getting up from your seat, so you don’t unnecessarily embarrass the other person about their size.”
Rosalinda Randall, a California-based etiquette expert and trainer, told Fox News Digital via email: “The obvious movement is to change places. If it’s a full flight, you’re stuck.”
Randall suggested that passengers who are uncomfortable politely address the issue of space after engaging in friendly conversation.
“Once you’ve established rapport, present the clear landing dilemma. Wait and see how they respond,” Randall said of the other passenger.
Randall added: “When the relationship is established with someone, we are more inclined to compromise and show more consideration.”
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