With no assigned seats on the flight — passengers set alarms and stay up late the night before to try to get a place in line that allows them to ease in finding seats for the next day. Boarding the plane, the first half of the line has first dibs over seats, whereas the second half is scavenging for a place to sit. This holiday season, Southwest airlines were making headlines for a very different reason — truly a meltdown amidst a blizzard in the United States. Following gnarly weather conditions in many U.S. cities on December 22nd, Southwest topped the charts of all airlines for flight conditions — with over 2,500 cancellations amidst holiday travel. With Southwest airlines being the talk of social media, it’s no wonder videos like these couples are going viral now (even almost two months later). RELATED: Flight Crew Allows Young Soldier To Walk Off The Plane First & People Are Claiming He Didn’t Deserve It
This couple flying Southwest decided to handpick the perfect passenger to offer ‘their aisle seat’ up to.
In a video from November 28th, @jj.martin.stf posted a video on his Instagram showing his wife sitting two seats across from him on a Southwest flight — captioned: “Southwest Airlines etiquette.” The text on the video says, “Southwest flight. We took the aisle and the window until we found the right person,” with an attached laughing emoji. RELATED: Why Flight Attendants Duct Tape Unruly Passengers
Sharing a video to their Instagram, the couple is seen taking up a row of seats on the Southwest flight.
If you’ve ever been on a Southwest flight, you know the terror of being some of the last people to board the plane — searching for an open spot. Walking down the aisle, you’re either met with mothers calming their newborn’s cries or couples like this that take one look up at you and then try not to make extended eye contact afterward. The woman shown in the video seems to be doing just that — only making eye contact with passengers just long enough to see if they’d be the ‘perfect’ fit for the random seat next to them.
As Southwest passengers stroll past their row, the woman continues to eye down each one.
This is where things seem to get a little dicey — especially in the comments that responded to it. People wonder what criteria someone looks for on a flight when they seemingly have the choice to choose the person next to them. Children, to crawl into your space? Nobody over 6ft that could take up your legroom? What exactly is this couple searching for? RELATED: Woman Destroys Airport Kiosk After Losing Her Children & Missing Her Flight
When a younger man with headphones approaches the aisle, she taps him on the shoulder.
Looking excitedly over at her husband, she gestures to him — hoping he’d be the perfect seat partner. “I don’t know,” the husband jokes, “It’s up to you.” Seemingly satisfied with her choice, she reached up to tap the man on his shoulder. “Do you want to sit here,” she said gesturing to the seat she had blocked off between her and her husband. Surprised by being offered a spot in an early row on the plane, the man quickly responded with, “Oh, sure!” “For how late I was, I thought I’d be scrunched in the middle somewhere,” the man jokes as he settles into his new ‘assigned’ aisle spot. “She was just looking for somebody ‘cool’ to scoot over,” the husband jokingly leaned over to say. RELATED: Woman Posts Photos ‘Sandwiched Between Two Obese People’ On A Plane — Then Asks Airline For ‘Reparations’
Internet users seem divided over the couples’ tactic on the Southwest flight.
Many commenters seem angry — but, clearly over very different reasons. Some comments agonize over their inability to think of this ‘genius’ plan earlier, promising they’ll use it on their next flight. Others seem that it might be a little bit shady to handpick who gets to sit next to you — and more importantly, who doesn’t. One comment on the Instagram video reads, “How would they feel if someone did that to them?” Would they fit the supposed ‘criteria’ that they were so desperately looking for on the Southwest flight? Other comments joke that after recent Southwest scandals, they should be grateful that they are even on a flight at all — “Plot twist,” one commenter says, “the flight got canceled anyway.” RELATED: Flight Attendant Yells ‘I Am Not Your Servant’ After Heated Argument With A Passenger Over A Sandwich Zayda Slabbekoorn is a news and entertainment writer who focuses on pop culture analysis and human interest stories. Catch up with them on Instagram or TikTok.
