Passenger ‘punches back of plane seat’ as person in front tries to recline

A PASSENGER has revealed how he witnessed an argument on a plane over a reclining seat that at one point resulted in one man punching another person’s seat.

Josh Martin was on a flight from Havana to Madrid when the incident took place over the Caribbean Sea.

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He claims that the it was all sparked off by a young Spanish man trying to put his seat back for a little extra comfort.

However, the French passenger sat behind him took exception to his reclining, sparking a huge argument.

Josh told Stuff NZ: “Before the drinks trolley had left the galley a tatted-up 20-something Spaniard reclined his seat. Just as many other passengers did.

“The response of the French passenger behind was as if somebody had spat in his croissant.”

Josh claimed that the passenger started punching the back of the reclined seat, before other people on board stood up and got involved, shouting opinions on the matter in different languages.

He continued: “Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! He thudded on the back of the seat, like a petulant toddler unhappy with bedtime.

“It led to fellow passengers standing up and weighing in on the matter. All in Spanish and French of course, with much lost in translation and general anger.”

Eventually, flight attendants saw what was going on and eventually got the pilot to put the seatbelt sign on, forcing everyone to sit back down, calming the situation.

Josh came to the conclusion that the Spanish passenger had been well within his rights to put the seat back and that the French passenger should have done the same instead of getting upset.

Sun Online Travel’s resident flight attendant agrees, saying that if your chair has a recline function, then people have every right to use it.

They said: “By far, the most common cause of arguments between passengers is seat reclining and it’s something we can’t really intervene in unless it’s during meal times.

“When there’s food being handed out, seats have to be upright, but as soon as we take the trays away, people quickly put their seats straight back down.

“And they’re entitled to as well – every passenger has both the ability and the right to recline their seat.

“My only advice would be if you can’t beat them, join them.

“If the person in front is reclining their seat, recline your own and start a bit of a wave if you have to.

“As long as you’re not encroaching on people’s space unfairly, you do what you’ve got to do to make sure you’re not squashed for the entirety of your journey.”

Meanwhile, this passenger revealed an “evil” method she uses to stop people reclining their seats.

Another person explained how they win reclining seat wars against other passengers.

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