Man’s odd choice of where to sit on empty plane goes viral

Chef Anthony Thomas caused a stir on X (formerly Twitter) when he singled out a fellow passenger regarding his seating choice on an empty plane. Photo / Getty Images

A confused passenger who singled out another traveller for his odd choice of where to sit on a nearly empty plane has sparked a significant debate about acceptable behaviour during air travel.

“Imagine having the luxury of boarding a flight with only two [other] passengers on it. Of all the seats on the flight, look where he decided to sit,” chef Anthony Thomas wrote in a post shared to X (formerly Twitter) along with a photo of himself and the two other passengers.

In Thomas’ selfie, two people are sitting behind him on the flight. One man sits far back towards the end of the plane, while another man sits in the window seat directly behind Thomas.

Southwest Airlines, a low-cost airline in the US, doesn’t assign seats to people. This means a passenger can choose any seat which is available once they have boarded.

The post has accumulated more than 232,000 likes, 10,600 reposts and received thousands of comments.

“It’s just like the folks who park right next to you [despite there being] tonnes of available spaces,” one person wrote, with 19,000 users liking the comparison.

Imagine having the luxury of boarding a flight with only two passengers on it. Of all the seats on the flight, look where he decided to sit. pic.twitter.com/qluJhDUHBy

— Chef Anthony Thomas (@ChefAnthonyDC) February 13, 2024

Another person compared it to a person using the urinal directly next to another in use in a near-empty bathroom, gathering 39,000 likes for their comment.

“Other dude in the back got the memo,” read another comment which garnered over 10,000 likes.

Some others made jokes about how Thomas should’ve used the opportunity to make the man behind him more uncomfortable instead.

“I’m farting as loud as possible,” joked one person with 10,000 likes in agreement.

“I’ma recline that seat all the way tf back [sic],” wrote a second person.

“I’d move to the seat right next to him, lol,” a third wrote.

Other conscious travellers made the point that the man may get anxious when flying and prefer being closer to people, and it was suggested Thomas could have moved seats if it made him so uncomfortable.

“It seems like the rare opportunity to enjoy extra space was too tempting to resist. Choosing a seat directly behind another passenger somehow feels like a classic human moment - even with an empty plane, we gravitate towards familiarity,” wrote one mindful social media user.

“Dude probably just wants his assigned seat, I’m chill with him,” said another person.

“I’m sorry, but if I board an empty flight, I’m not sitting by myself either... that’s creepy,” a third person said.