It’s one of the most commonly asked questions on a flight — “Can we switch seats?”
And when the answer is (usually) “no”, it often ends in a heated exchange.
One woman’s TikTok recently went viral when she refused to switch seats with a passenger who wanted to sit next to her two kids aged 11 and 15.
Tammy Nelson was travelling for work and boarded the aircraft to find the mum sitting in her seat with her two children next to her.
The mum offered up her middle seat in the row behind for Nelson’s window seat.
And when Nelson said “no,” the mum reportedly proceeded to complain for at least 15 minutes to the person next to her.
“Having had only 90 minutes of sleep the night before and knowing I had to give a presentation to 500 people, I desperately needed some sleep,” Nelson said. “So I did not agree to switch seats.”
According to a poll conducted by news.com.au – 95 per cent (of 12060 voters) agreed that Nelson should not have switched seats.
A resurfaced clip from Family Guy reveals Stewie denying a mother from switching seats to sit near her family.
FOX
But it’s a question that gets asked often and continues to spark a heated debate, just as it has done with this resurfaced episode of “Family Guy.”
In the clip shared to YouTube, a mother asks Stewie to give up the row of seats her family.
“Excuse me, do you mind if we switch seats so my family can sit altogether,” she asks.
“No, no, we don’t switch,” he responds.
“Cause when we booked, they didn’t have three together,” she continues, before he interrupts saying: “Ma’am, ma’am, your poor planning does not constitute an emergency, you’ll see him in Paris, go sit down.”
It appears the hundreds of people who commented agreed with Stewie’s stance.
“Stewie is right. I’m sick of ‘seat cheaters’ – either pay extra or go home,” one person commented.
“’Your poor planning doesn’t constitute an emergency for me’, what a great line, absolutely perfect,” said another, while a third added: “We’ve all wanted to say this in our life.”.
One viewer said the “pain” is worse when people ask after they’ve already taken your seat — similar to what happened to Nelson.
“She was polite an’ all, but the situation just had an uncomfortable vibe, and Stewie was kind of a d**k even though he was within his right to decline,” said another.
“I pray this never happens to me. I want to imagine I would give up my seat but I’m not that confident I’m a good person,” one person joked.
One woman’s TikTok recently went viral when she refused to switch seats with a passenger who wanted to sit next to her two kids aged 11 and 15.
TikTok/myconquering
Meanwhile, an aviation worker also backed Stewie, saying he is “200 per cent right”.
In a viral 45-second clip, a woman explained she had just settled in her window seat for a six-hour flight when a woman asked her if she’d like the aisle seat instead.
“It’s always OK to ask … but I said ‘Oh, no thank you,’” the TikToker said. “I got the window, I want the window.”
And it didn’t go down too well with the passenger claiming she woke up later to a child “crawling on top” of her – and the mum doing nothing to stop it.
“I think because of spite, this woman refused to deal with her child because of it,” she theorised.
“I did not know what to do,” she added. “So I forced myself to pass out and then sit through the most uncomfortable flight of my life.”
Her clip sparked a massive divide.
“So just switch seats next time and don’t be difficult,” one user said.
“Why should she switch? Lack of planning by the mum does not constitute an emergency on the OP’s side,” another shot back, echoing Stewie’s stance.
“Why don’t people buy seats next to each other when they are booking them?” questioned another.
And this Aussie flying in business class copped massive backlash when he asked a passenger to switch seats with him so he could be next to his partner.
Why you shouldn’t switch seats
An aviation expert revealed why you should not switch seats on a flight before takeoff.
Chrystal Zhang, an associate professor of aerospace engineering and aviation at RMIT University, explained to news.com.au strict rules were in place because takeoff and landing is the most dangerous part of the flight.
She said a range of things could go wrong during this time such as a collision with another aircraft or a plane’s landing gear not opening properly.
“Generally speaking when the aircraft is getting ready for taking off and landing within the airport’s domain, it is the most dangerous phase of the flight,” she said. “That’s why there is a strict restriction that requires passengers must sit in their allocated seat with their safety belt fastened.”
Dr Zhang said one reason for this that people might not be aware of is because if something was to go wrong like a fatal crash, the names allocated to certain seats are used to identify passengers.
“In that circumstance, investigators need to identify the passengers, the bodies, all the remaining items etc. So it’s very important that kind of evidence exists,” she said.
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