Air travellers have been issued a warning over the new “seat squatting” trend that has caused controversy online. So called “seat squatters” grab unoccupied seats not allocated to their tickets without first checking with the flight attendants or waiting for boarding to be completed.
Content creator Shannon Ella voiced her frustration over this new phenomenon in a video posted to TikTok, which has since been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people. As reported by Express.co.uk, she explained that on her flight someone took her seat, but not mistakenly.
But when she told him it was hers, he reportedly didn’t move and expected her to let him keep it. Shannon asked viewers: “Is that a thing that people are doing on planes now? They just sit in your seat and just go like, ‘No, it’s mine, I sat there first so minesies?’”
This is not an isolated incident, as video sharing platform TikTok is full of stories from other passengers who have also experienced it. One woman detailed an episode in which she was flying with a six-month-old and an 18-month-old.
She discovered someone else was sitting in her seat so she handed them the children. “She quickly found her own seat,” she said.
Luckily, flight attendants have confirmed they will move seat squatters on if they find them. A woman named Olivia said: “I’m a flight attendant and once a passenger says someone is in my seat, I 100 percent make them move to their assigned seat.”
Reddit forums are also filled with similar anecdotes. One passenger claimed they saw three “seat squatters” on a flight.
“First was a guy that was supposed to be in 28C who was all the way up in 12B and was trying to argue it was his seat,” they said. “The next was a lady in 18A who was being adamant with the seat holder that she needed to be by the window and not in the middle.
“The next was a couple that was supposed to be in 24C and D and decided to camp out and plant their flag in 24A and B.”
People online have also been sharing solutions on how to fix it and ideas include selling them the seat or denying them boarding. How would you react if this happened to you?