Seat squatting is becoming a menace.
There’s another annoying thing happening on planes now: people are squatting. “Seat squatters” is a new term being thrown around on social media as more and more people grab unoccupied seats. No, they are not checking with the flight attendants or waiting for boarding to be completed to move up. In the most bizarre way, these squatters notice a seat while boarding and simply decide to occupy it.
A TikToker named Shannon Ella posted a video after she had this experience on her flight, which has has over 212,000 views. On her flight, the person who had taken her seat did not do so mistakenly; when she told him it was hers, he didn’t budge. She narrated that he expected her to give it to him. “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?’” she asked.
@shannonella_ Has anyone else dealt with what I like to call plane squatters?💺 apparently this is a thing now?? #flying #plane #airplane #travel #traveltiktok ♬ original sound – Shannon Ella
It’s easy to get confused and mistake someone else’s space for yours. This mistake can be easily rectified by checking your boarding pass when someone points it out. Seat squatters, however, aren’t confused. They’re taking what’s not theirs and then getting into arguments with passengers and flight attendants.
@younger_than_tomorrow #greenscreen #seatsquatters on #planes is the latest thing that has me #thinking that #society is #doomed ♬ original sound – Jennifer Rose
The behavior is apparently more common than you think. Comments on TikTok videos discussing the trend are rife with stories from passengers who have experienced it. One traveler even mentioned a hilarious anecdote when she was flying with a six-month-old and an 18-month-old and handed them both to the lady who was in her seat. “She quickly found her own seat,” she concluded, though there’s no telling whether it really happened.
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A flight attendant named Olivia commented on a TikTok video, “I’m a flight attendant and once a passenger says someone is in my seat, I 100% make them move to their assigned seat.”
Anecdotes are also filling up Reddit forums. On the r/delta subreddit, a passenger posted that on one Delta flight, they saw three squatters. “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. 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 are also sharing solutions on how to fix it—the ideas flying around include selling them the seat or denying them boarding.
Related: Do I Really Have to Switch My Airplane Seat so Families Can Sit Together?
Don’t like your assigned seats? Pay for your desired window or aisle. But if you have missed out and nothing is left, or if you’re traveling with someone, request someone to switch with you. But know that they have every right to refuse you, with or without a reason. Also, empty seats on a plane are not a free-for-all. There may be reasons the airline hasn’t sold those—sometimes faulty seat belts or oxygen bags can make a seat unsafe. In addition, flying a plane is a lot about weight distribution. Thus, don’t sit anywhere. Ask a flight attendant if you can switch and then move. This also avoids confusion because staff normally keep a tab on which passenger is seated where.
