The debate over airplane etiquette continues to rage on, with one passenger asking at what point it is appropriate to actively reclaim space.

The passenger who was recently on a United Airlines flight took to Reddit to share their experience, asking if it was rude of them to lower the armrest between themselves and their neighbor. 

They explained that it was a two-seat configuration, and they were sitting in the aisle with a woman in the window seat. 

‘Am I a jerk for pressing the armrest down to force the plus-sized girl sitting next to me to readjust how she was sitting and move her body towards the window?’ they asked to the United Airlines subreddit.

‘I was in an aisle seat, she has the window,’ they explained. ‘She was seated first and I sat down and pulled the armrest.’

The passenger said the fellow passenger had to move after the armrest came down, as it made her ‘realize how far over she was.’

‘Then the arm rest crept up as her leg or gut moved back,’ they wrote.

‘I didn’t feel like spending three hours leaning into the aisle, so I pressed the armrest down to get her to move back. Felt like a jerk. Am I a jerk?’ they stressed.

The debate over airplane etiquette continues to rage on, with one passenger asking at what point it is appropriate to actively reclaim space (stock image)

The debate over airplane etiquette continues to rage on, with one passenger asking at what point it is appropriate to actively reclaim space (stock image) 

The worried passenger then asked what the ‘right way’ to handle this would be. 

‘Didn’t want to get the flight attendant involved as I thought it would embarrass the girl. She was likely mid 20s,’ they shared.

Users were divided in their responses, many assuring the passenger they would have reacted the same way.

‘You each paid for the seating space between your respective arm rests. So, no. If she needs more than her seat, she has the option to buy a second seat,’ one user declared.

Another added they do this regardless of who is sitting next to them, writing: ‘I just want that boundary established. I’m not anyone who care to be social with my unknown seatmates.’

‘Absolutely not the a**hole,’ agreed someone else. ‘I probably would have asked her to be moved. If someone knows their too large for a seat they need to be made to buy another or buy first.’

‘Fat person here, you are not a jerk,’ chimed in another. ‘The only two times I put the arm rest up is when I’m sitting next to my boyfriend or an empty seat, or when I’m getting into or out of the row.’

Others slammed the passenger for the way they spoke about the girl.

The passenger who was recently on a United Airlines flight took to Reddit to share their experience, asking if it was rude of them to lower the armrest between themselves and their neighbor (stock image)

The passenger who was recently on a United Airlines flight took to Reddit to share their experience, asking if it was rude of them to lower the armrest between themselves and their neighbor (stock image) 

‘You’re not a jerk, but I’m sure that entire flight that girl felt terrible and more self-conscious than ever,’ one raged.

‘Yes if you are going out of your way to make someone uncomfortable because they’re fat then yes you are thee a**hole,’ another irate person wrote.

The seat debate isn’t new, with many passengers sharing horror stories from flights where they have endured people encroaching on their personal space during a flight.

One recent frequent flyer shared her annoyance at a fellow passenger who got a little too close during a flight. 

The Delta passenger shared a picture from on board where there was an empty space in front of her but people either side. 

In the snap, she showed her legs stretched out with her seatmate’s leg also spread out in her floor space.

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