When someone refuses to move seats on an airplane, the situation can quickly get interesting. Sometimes nothing happens, but other times, there can be consequences, according to one flight attendant. Mitra Amizradeh, an Orlando-based flight attendant, recently shared how she responds to seat-swapping fiascos on board.

The Consequences of Declining to Trade Seats

Flight attendants often find themselves in tense situations when passengers attempt, and fail, to move seats. Though it happens on nearly every flight, the decline of an offer to trade seats to accommodate families with young children requires a unique response.

Amirzadeh shared with The Wall Street Journal that if the request involves a child, she first tries to appeal to other passengers to help out the families. In some cases, she said she has even assigned stubborn passengers the task of entertaining children who are left sitting alone. The response can serve as a sort of punishment.

By making those unwilling to swap seats with parents responsible for looking after the children, the message is clear: if passengers don’t help, they’ll have to be the babysitter for the duration of the flight.

Amirzadeh also mentioned that she is less likely to intervene when it comes to separated adults wanting to sit together, noting she doesn’t believe in forcing paying passengers to swap seats unnecessarily.

The issue of seat-swapping can be a divisive topic. The etiquette of changing seats is becoming increasingly acceptable as airlines rapidly raise fees for seat selection.

Seat-Swapping Requests Denied

In a recent incident, a passenger was praised for refusing to give up a business-class seat for an economy seat, despite feeling pressured by passengers to switch. In this example, the person requesting a swap wanted to sit next to a spouse.

Similarly, another woman gained support on social media for refusing to swap seats on a flight so a family could sit together. Many supporters said the family should have pre-selected seats in the same row.

The debate around seat swapping on flights is ongoing, with some passengers and flight attendants finding themselves caught in the middle, and often pressured to take a side.

Amirzadeh’s approach offers a creative solution to a common problem but also puts the responsibility on passenger empathy rather than airline policy.

travel etiquette