Nothing worse than a backseat pile-driver.
A United Airlines passenger has been labeled a “psycho” after body slamming his seat for the entire flight because a tall man behind him allegedly prevented him from reclining. A video of his in-flight meltdown is currently going viral on Reddit.
According to the post, uploaded by a fly-witness, the tantrum occurred aboard an early morning United Airlines flight 1377 from Denver to Chicago. They were reportedly seated in the Economy Plus section.
The Redditor wrote that the culprit “repeatedly slammed his body against his chair every few min for 2 hours straight” to seemingly exact revenge on the 6-foot-7 man behind him. Despite his aggressive action, the victim seemed “completely unbothered” by the barrage, per the post.
In the clip, the bespectacled passenger is seen repeatedly un-reclining and re-reclining his chair violently to seemingly rile the tall flyer, whose knees are pressed up against his seat back. At one point, he even raises his arms in the air to gain more leverage for his seatback attack.
The seat slammer’s assault seemingly had little effect on the target, who remained calm throughout the flight aside from bracing his legs more firmly against his tormenter’s seat.
The Redditor was especially galled by the “lack of communication from the man that was obviously upset.”
And while the flight attendant was “aware,” they didn’t intervene aside from asking the tall man if he was OK, to which he replied “yes,” per the Redditor.
The Post has reached out to United Airlines for comment.
Commenters were appalled by the hellion’s violent actions, with one dubbing him an “absolute pyscho.”
“F–k. That. Guy. I would throw a tantrum of my own if I was sitting behind him,” declared one.
Another wrote, “Every airliner needs a brig for douchebags like this.”
“Should have asked the FA if they had any of the plastic pilots wings to give him, since he’s clearly acting like a child,” said a third.
Others excoriated the unseen flight attendant for not taking more action.
“If the flight attendant was aware, there should have been some kind of intervention, even if the passenger behind him didn’t complain,” said one. “He could damage the seat or cause an injury with that kind of behavior.”
A View From The Wing contributor Gary Leff labeled the passenger’s behavior “completely unacceptable,” “childish” and “disruptive,” further acknowledging that the flight crew member was “too passive.”
“Asking the tall passenger ‘are you okay?’ is not the same as managing the cabin,” he declared. “Visible, repeated, shaking of rows should mean the flight attendant tells the passenger to stop, documents it, and warns that continued behavior can have consequences.”
Leff added that “disruptive or violent behavior can lead to fines, law enforcement referral and an airline ban.”
In general, he said that reclining is “at the discretion of the passenger in the seat, although it’s polite to do it slowly and only when needed.”
Leff added that the lack of legroom was partially to blame as well, noting that first class isn’t that much “more spacious.”
According to an analysis by William McGee, a senior fellow for the American Economic Liberties, American, Delta, Southwest and United airlines have each lost between 2 and 5 inches of legroom since the 1980s, putting the average legroom at approximately 31 inches, down from 35 inches in the late 20th century.
Budget airlines have been hit even harder, with Wizz Air boasting just 28 inches in which to stretch one’s legs.
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