A flight attendant has shared the unique "punishment" she gives out to passengers who refuse to swap seats to help families with young children.
Mitra Amirzadeh, a flight attendant based in Orlando, claims that seat-swap requests are very frequent on 80% of her monthly shifts.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, the 38-year-old revealed that she rarely intervenes when couples who are not seated together want to exchange seats with someone else.
"The next time you feel yourself getting angry or getting frustrated that you’re not getting the seat you want," she told the outlet. "You need to remind yourself that you didn’t pay to pick your seat. Otherwise, you’d be in it."
However, the airline worker, who serves as a union representative for an airline that implements fees for advance seat selection, has different rules when a child is involved and is not afraid to step in as a meditator.
If travelers aren't willing to switch seats with parents, she resorts to a more assertive approach, assigning the person the role of the babysitter.
"I have said before, 'OK, so you're going to watch the toddler?'" she disclosed to the outlet. "You'll want their snacks and their coloring books then because they're going to need that."
Airplane seat etiquette is a highly debated topic on social media as pre-booked seat fees have skyrocketed.
One former flight attendant, who goes by the handle @jeenie.weenie, has taken to TikTok to offer insights into the likelihood of successfully swapping seats.
"Have you ever wanted to change seats on a plane to sit next to your friend or partner? Here are seat change success rates, couples edition," she said.
Jeenie explained that if you are a couple who wants to change seats with a solo passenger in the same area, the chance of getting that exchange is nearly 100 percent. "I have never had anyone say no," she shared.
But if someone is asking a passenger to move to the back of the plane, then that reduces your likelihood to about 20 percent. And if the seat is near a bathroom or a crying baby, then it's about 40 percent.
Watch the former flight attendant's TikTok below:
According to the ex-airline worker, if you ask someone to give up their window or aisle seat for a middle seat, then the odds of them agreeing are even lower at about 10 percent. But if it's the other way around, your likelihood is at 99.9 percent.
And if you want to change seats with a passenger in another class, then Jennie advises that you shouldn't "even try".
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