When a Fellow Passenger Offered Her and Her Infant a Seat With More Space, the Mother Says the Other Passenger Freaked Out

A mother posted about a recent flight event on Reddit, where she said that a flight attendant’s nice gesture provoked an angry response from another passenger. This spurred debate about the incident. The post, which was made on May 19 on the r/AmItheAsshole (AITA) subreddit, described how, on a packed aircraft, a flight attendant moved her and her 19-month-old kid from their initial crowded row by offering them two nearby empty seats.

Even though both seats were standard, the flight attendant gave the woman more space, explaining that the airline tries “to accommodate people with young infants.” The mother was thrilled with the offer and accepted right away. But the lone traveler in the new row took offense, claiming that she had specifically picked that row to sleep in and that the mother and child’s presence would prevent her from doing so.

The mother said, “She specifically picked this seat when checking in online because the row was empty and it’s going to be a nightmare now.” The passenger’s ire was exacerbated when the flight attendant clarified the airline’s parent-friendly policy.

The mother went on to say that her son had only cried once throughout the flight and that she didn’t regret swapping because it made the trip more comfortable, even though she had received “stinky eye and some other rude comments.”

Many people commented on the post, with the majority of them supporting the mother. A user mentioned that the lone traveler had not paid for the whole row and couldn’t expect it to be vacant. Another user, who claimed to be an ex-flight attendant, said that the other passenger was angry that she hadn’t been charged extra for her seats and referred to her as the “asshole” in the matter.

Nicole Campoy Jackson, a travel consultant from Fora Travel, offered her opinion, saying the mother had “absolutely” the right to accept the new seats. She made it clear that the mother had done nothing improper and that the flight attendant was only looking after their passenger.

While acknowledging that it was disappointing to be seated next to a baby, Jackson emphasized that the single traveler had no right to expect her row’s seats to remain unoccupied unless she had paid for them all. She recommended that the traveler should have asked the flight attendant to relocate to a different row if she was really worried about getting enough sleep.

Jackson concluded that the mother had good reason to stick with the new seat, particularly given it wasn’t an advance in terms of style. She emphasized that in order to have a successful flight, everyone must be kind and understanding of one another when sharing a limited area.