Woman Calls Out American Airlines Over Passenger Punching Her Reclined Seat
A woman who recently flew on American Airlines is calling out the company for not properly reacting to another passenger who repeatedly punched the back of a seat that she had reclined.
Meanwhile, the video she tweeted of the incident set off on Twitter the age-old airplane etiquette debate about pushing back one’s seat.
Wendi Williams said that on Jan. 31, she took a flight on American Airlines subsidiary American Eagle from New Orleans to Charlotte, North Carolina. During the trip, when she first reclined her seat the man behind her asked that she wait to do so until he was done eating.
She accommodated the man and then reclined the seat after he was done, according to a Fox News story. However, she said the man reacted by repeatedly punching the back of her seat, which she captured on video.
@BravoAndy Here’s a great jackhole! He was angry that I reclined my seat and punched it about 9 times - HARD, at which point I began videoing him, and he resigned to this behavior. The other jackhole is the @AmericanAir flight attendant who reprimanded me and offered him rum! pic.twitter.com/dHeUysrKTu
— wendi (@steelersfanOG) February 9, 2020
Williams said the flight attendant reacted to the incident by telling the man that the seating was tight and then offering him a complimentary cocktail.
She also said the flight attendant got mad at her for filming the encounter.
When the FA came. She rolled her eyes at me and said, “What?” She then told him it was tight back there and gave him rum! She told me I had to delete the video! It’s against the law to video on a plane. I asked her name & She gave me a Passenger Disturbance Notice! https://t.co/zRwy5JYr9s
— wendi (@steelersfanOG) February 8, 2020
Wiliams said that when she contacted American Airlines after the flight, the customer service agent apologized but “really didn’t accept any responsibility” for the way the flight attendant handled the situation. She said she plans to file assault charges with the FBI.
In another tweet, she claimed she suffered horrible headaches for a week after the incident, lost time at work and had to visit a doctor.
I was contacted via phone by @AmericanAir, they apologized but really didn’t accept any responsibility for the flight attendant’s actions. I will be calling the FBI to press charges against the “man” who mistook me for a punching bag. Anyone who doesn’t like it, I don’t care!
— wendi (@steelersfanOG) February 9, 2020
An American Airlines spokesperson told Fox News on Wednesday that the airline was “aware” of the customer dispute and was “looking into the issue.”
Williams received support from some Twitter users, but others thought she was the rude one, especially because the man behind her had apparently had restricted seating. It appeared from the video that he was in the back row and unable to recline.
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Think you really need to look at how you have reacted and what you have tweeted!
I am small and also disabled. Before I fly economy I know what the seats are like and what I do has an impact on others.
When people recline in front of me it is a struggle to get out my seat.— Katrina Murphy (@Katty1962) February 12, 2020
You have reclined your seat all the way back. His seat is fixed and won’t recline back so he is squashed in his space. Did he ask for your co-operation to not recline back so far? It would have been helpful if there was CO-OPERATION between the both of you.
— Trump 4 Prison in 2020 🍄🍊 (@real_gdm) February 9, 2020
Nick Leighton, who hosts the etiquette-related podcast “Were You Raised By Wolves,” said that while passengers have the “right” to recline, “whether or not they should is a separate matter.”
“In general, passengers should be mindful about when and how they recline to try to minimize the inconvenience to the people behind them whenever possible,” he told HuffPost.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.