Airline passenger sparks viral debate about plus-sized seatmate issue

A passenger who was sitting next to a “man of stature” during a long flight took to social media to ask users what they would have done if they were uncomfortable.The user wrote, “I understand how uncomfortable he must have felt, but I also have relatively broad shoulders and was confined to half of my seat with one armrest for the entirety of a 5-hour flight.”“I would never want to embarrass him or make a scene, but for future reference is there anything that could have been done?” the user asked.In the Reddit forum “unitedairlines,” users shared their own experiences and suggestions.One user said, “This happened to me recently.The armrest could go down, but he was otherwise spilling into my seat.”Another chimed in, “Happened to me last year and I regretted the entire five-hour flight.

As soon as they plop down I would immediately get out and talk to a FA [flight attendant] about moving.”“I always get a window seat when flying economy because I can lean into it to sleep or get away from a large middle seater,” said one person.Another user said blame shouldn’t be placed on others, but that the issue is due to the sizing of the seats.“Write an email to the airline … The problem is neither of you, it’s the airlines absolutely taking us for everything and giving us nothing,” they said.Fox News Digital reached out to United Airlines for comment on the issue.“Firstly it has to be acknowledged, and usually the encroaching party will acknowledge and apologize,” one user said.“Assuming you can’t change to a different seat, you have the option of getting off and switching to a later flight.”The same user added, “You could get the [flight attendant] involved and get the encroacher kicked off (especially if armrest can’t go down).”One user said sitting next to a person of large size is not a top concern while flying.“I might be in the minority, but as long as [the person has] good hygiene then I don’t mind,” ...