Plane passenger sparks uproar after revealing a fellow Southwest traveler on a near-EMPTY flight insisted on sitting DIRECTLY behind him - despite there being dozens of other free seats

Anthony Thomas, a Washington-based chef, shared his frustration onlineHe revealed that a fellow passenger sat directly behind himThe chef noted that the plane was nearly empty  

A plane passenger has been left flabbergasted after a fellow traveler on a near-empty Southwest flight chose to sit directly behind him – despite there being dozens of other free seats.

Anthony Thomas, a Washington-based chef, took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share a photo of himself on a Southwest plane with only three other passengers on it, and while every traveler decided to spread out, one man opted instead to sit in the spot right behind Anthony.

The chef’s image reignited the ongoing discussion about airplane etiquette – just weeks after a plane passenger prompted fury for propping her feet on someone else’s seat and another traveler admitted to wearing her seatbelt around her ankles.

Anthony noted that ‘out of all the seats on the flight,’ the anonymous traveler had made a very odd decision about his spot on the plane, with his choice sparking a wave of backlash from other social media users.

Anthony Thomas has sparked fury after revealing that a fellow traveler decided to sit right behind his seat, despite the plane being nearly empty

He captioned the snap, which showed the total of four passengers – himself included – on the plane: ‘Imagine having the luxury of boarding a flight with only two passengers on it. Of all the seats on the flight, look where he decided to sit.’

The photo showed Anthony sitting in an empty row by the window. Two other passengers spread out in the back of the plane.  However, one fellow traveler sat directly behind Anthony.

‘I woulda been so passive aggressive when I changed seats,’ one person added.

Another person said: ‘It doesn’t matter my friend. Recline all the way back. That’s his fault.’

People on the web were stunned to see the mystery man decide to sit near him and took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to express their anger.

One person said: ‘It’s just like the folks who park right next to you and it’s tons of available spaces.’

Someone else added: ‘I think these people are extremely codependent.’

Another user wrote: ‘I’d move to the seat right next to him lol.’

People on the web were stunned to see the mystery man decide to sit near him and took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to express their anger

‘Oh my, I would be so freaked out, I’d have to move,’ added one user.

‘I would have gotten up and moved to several seats behind him,’ one person said.

This isn’t the first time flyers have sparked furious debates over airplane etiquette.

Just two weeks ago, a frequent flyer sparked uproar after showing off a ‘dangerous’ traveling hack that sees her wearing her seatbelt around her ankles in a bid to sit more ‘comfortably’ during her flight.

In the past, many passengers questioned whether you should switch seats while traveling.

Just one month ago, a frequently flyer issued a PSA to fellow travelers about seat swapping after he found himself in a nightmare experience that saw him forced to move five times when he begrudgingly gave up his spot to another passenger.

The unknown man took to Reddit to recount his seat swap story that ‘permanently changed [his] mind on ever being nice and trading seats with someone.’

He reignited the heated conversation surrounding travel etiquette after a frequent flyer was applauded for refusing to switch seats so a woman could sit by the window.

He shared his experience in a thread dedicated to ‘Delta Air Lines’ – adding that the disastrous incident took place eight years ago while he was on a flight from New York City to Utah.

Another frequent flyer previously revealed she refused to switch her window seat with an ‘entitled’ passenger who wanted to sit next to his wife.

The unnamed woman took to Reddit to share how she declined to move to a middle seat during an 11-hour flight from New York to Cairo, Egypt, so the man sitting next to her could sit beside his wife.

The anonymous woman shared her story on the social media platform as a way to rant about the man under a thread titled, ‘EntitledPeople,’ prompting others on the web to slam the man for asking someone else to switch to a lower-quality seat so he could be happy.

The denial comes months after one man sparked furious debate when he refused to give up his first-class seat for his boss, despite using his own credit card points to do so.

In the past, DailyMail.com’s Jaci Stephen even offered up her view, and confessed that she ‘absolutely refuses’ to swap seats, no matter how angry the passenger requesting to switch may get.