To think the male American Airlines passenger punching the reclined seat should be charged with assault if legally possible.

[SiousieSoo]

I have watched the video of the man continually punching the seat occupied by Wendi Williams who had positioned it to recline. I am totally appalled that she was not given assistance when she drew the flight attendants attention to her predicament. This mans behaviour was totally unacceptable. I find it hard to fathom his behaviour and really feel a bit disturbed by it. I don't think he would have acted this way had it been a man in front... Am I being unfair in thinking this?

[SiousieSoo]

To me he's using a fist and it's low level punching. She said he punched the seat more aggressively initially and that's when she started to film so he switched to what we see him doing. He looks deranged.

[Dontsweatthelittlestuff]

The full video is on you tube. The man behaved like an arsehole and I wonder if he would have behaved the same if a 6ft plus man was in the seat.

[WalkingDeadTrainee]

I'm not sure why airline seats are even made to recline.
They should be welded upright.

Agreed. At least on short flights

[Jaxhog]

Well, maybe he didn't want her reclined into his lap?

I had this all the way back from SriLanka once. A very big, drunk, sunburned man got on in the Maldives and reclined his seat all the way back for the entire trip back to London. I couldn't read a book, get out or eat my meal. I would have pushed his seat too if I dared.

Just because a seat reclines doesn't mean you have to.

[Twotinydictators]

I personally wouldn't recline my seat but people do irritating things all the time and you can't go around acting like he did - its completely inappropriate, threatening and frankly childish behaviour.

[thefemalelemur]

@Coffee2sugars if you look at her twitter account you'll see that he was punching the seat before she started filming him. You can also see from the video that he doesn't look crushed, he has his table down and is watching something on his phone. He's just being a dick.

[SiousieSoo]

It's irritating when seats are reclined yes but we don't live in a society where this sort of behaviour goes unpunished in my view.

[DenimDrift]

you don't know he wouldn't have done this to a man!! in fact we dont know why he did it at all.....daft woman!! she has not got whiplash shes just looking for a quick buck!

simple solution for her would have been to put the seat back up.....problem solved

[PegasusReturns]

Bet he wouldn't have done this to a man

and you know that... how? No need to play the female card when you are clearly in the wrong

Because millennia of experience tells us that many men behave like this towards women because they know there’s little risk of them retaliating.

I agree he would not have behaved like this towards another man.

[I8toys]

I don't know what happened before it to comment. He is rocking her chair not punching it in the clip I saw. If she reclined it whilst he was eating then she's wrong. They both look like eejits in my personal opinion.

[DenimDrift]

he asked her not to recline, she said what back to him?

[DenimDrift]

she spilt his drink as well

[Homemadearmy]

For those saying he wouldn't do it to a man the second poster said the same thing had happened to her DH.

[KenDodd]

I remember on a long flight once I reclined my seat to try to sleep, the man behind injected so I apologised and put my seat back up. I then noticed that he had his own seat all the way reclined. Twat. I wish I'd kept my seat reclined.

[SiousieSoo]

@Denim Drift. Yes Coca Cola down my front is annoying.... Next time I'll remember to get me boxing gloves out...

[shiningstar2]

Most people accept that it is not considerate to recline your seat, especially in economy, while others are eating. However I think that there should be clear rules displayed about this so that those who don't consider the practical needs of others can be given a hint about what is acceptable. On buses/trains there are notices asking people not to put their feet on the seats. A similar notice requesting that people don't recline their seats during meal times would be useful. Shouldn't be needed I know but it would help avoid situations like this.

[WarmSausageTea]

I don’t think anybody comes out of this looking great. He seems like an aggressive arsehole and she seems like an entitled, opportunistic arsehole. And the cabin crew was next to useless.

Say what you like about easyJet and Ryanair (and I’m not a fan of either), you don’t get any of this on their flights.

[KenDodd]

Objected not injected!

[BorneoBabe]

YANBU. He's an entitled cock and has been deservedly ridiculed on Twitter.

[ThatFriendsReunion]

I agree he would not have behaved like this towards another man.

he probably would have told a man to stop fucking around, but because she was a woman, he had to restrain himself and tap the seat instead of giving it the great big punch or kick it deserved.

Well done on him to be considerate towards a woman, however rude and inconsiderate she was

[JuanSheetIsPlenty]

She was a dick for reclining when he had asked her not to.

He was a dick for punching the seat.

Sounds like two dicks had an unpleasant flight.

[VirtualHamster]

A similar notice requesting that people don't recline their seats during meal times would be useful.

On the flights I've been on where meals have been served, the flight attendants always get everybody to put their seats up if they're reclined as they're serving.

[JuanSheetIsPlenty]

he had to restrain himself and tap the seat instead of giving it the great big punch or kick it deserved.

It’s a bit terrifying that you think reclining a seat is deserving of a great big punch or kick! That’s a really disproportionate and abnormal response to being irritated.

[SiousieSoo]

She utilised the recline seat functionality. Yes that's annoying but totally permitted by the airline. And the seat punching was a proxy for punching her. His aggression was directed to her.