Passenger refuses to give up aisle seat for elderly woman but people are divided

A PASSENGER has divided opinion after they refused to move seats for an elderly woman.

The passenger explained that they had booked the aisle seat because they suffer from anxiety and panic attacks.

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They wrote on Reddit: “In order to give myself a feeling of a tiny bit of control, I always pay for my seat in advance and choose an aisle seat at the back of the plane; so that I can at least feel that if something happens I can stand up, easily make it to the bathroom and nobody will be able to see me.”

However, after they took their seat, they said an elderly man sat in the middle, while an older woman with a walking stick who was helped onboard by staff had the window seat.

The passenger then said: “Myself and the old man stood up, and stepped into the aisle to let her in. She did need quite a bit of help getting to the seat.

“The airport worker and another passenger were looking at me and the passenger said, ‘don’t you think it’d be easier if YOU sat in the window seat?’

“I said, ‘Well, I’ve paid for my seat’. The passenger said ‘well you’re clearly younger and fitter, you’re letting the old lady struggle to the window seat?’

“I said, ‘Actually I take panic attacks, I’ve chosen this seat for a reason, if the lady is really struggling then she or her family should have thought of that when they made the booking’.

“I heard a couple of other passengers tutting and the woman shook her head and moved forward.”

They ended by asking if they were in the wrong, as they felt bad for the lady, but said they would have been too anxious to sit in the window seat.

Some people said they didn’t handle the situation very well.

One person wrote: “You don’t need to have the second part of the sentence. You are purposely trying to be mean.”

However, most people were on their side, saying the woman should have planned ahead and booked their own aisle seat.

One said: “Her lack of planning is not your emergency. I hate how someone being old is somehow your responsibility.”

A second agreed: “There are many aisle seats on a plane and anyone else could have done that but didn’t. You are under no obligation to move for anyone.”

Someone even said it could be a safety issue: “From a safety point of view, a passenger who isn’t very mobile should actually take the window seat as to not block anyone else’s to the center aisle in case of an emergency.”

It isn’t the first time a passenger has split opinion after refusing to move.

One man refused to swap seats during a flight for a child so they could sit near their mum.

And another passenger refused to move from the window seat despite another person paying for it.

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