Woman refused to let mum and daughter sit together on flight as she 'wanted it left empty'

People become incredibly territorial when they set foot on a plane. Is it your armrest or theirs? Can you recline all the way back or is that impolite?

And one woman took to social media recently after she had a pretty fiery encounter with a fellow passenger over a seat.

In a post to Reddit, she explained that she had to travel across the US for work, and bought an extra seat because she struggles with anxiety.

She said that she often gets quite panicky and likes to have a 'buffer' between her and the next person.

"I had an aisle seat in a three-person row, and people were shuffling around changing their seats before take off," the woman wrote.

"I do not know how it works, but apparently, people can occasionally just sit down wherever they want and the flight attendants don't have to deal with it?

"The seating arrangement was me - open seat (mine) - teenage girl I'd place around the seventh grade."

Andriy Popov/Alamy

However, things took a turn when a 'middle-aged woman abruptly sat down in the middle seat and fist-bumped the teenage girl'.

She was then left with the awkward situation of having to ask the woman to move.

"Immediately, I told her that I had reserved that seat, and she started by being very considerate," she went on.

"She quietly told me she was getting away from a bad situation, and really wanted to sit next to her daughter.

"During this explanation, she repeatedly pointed out her daughter sitting next to her, as if I would be a monster for depriving her of that seat. I stuck to my guns though and told her that I would get the cabin attendant if she didn't go back to her seat several rows back in the middle.

"She called me on my bluff, so I flagged one down. He asked if I really needed the middle seat and I said yes. Then he politely asked the woman to move, which she did, but not before calling me a 'd******d."

David Gee 4/Alamy

The woman added: "Since she did this rather loudly, several people were clearly looking at me, and I couldn't really read what they were thinking. I kind of feel bad about it now, and after arriving safely I wonder if I should have just given up the seat."

Sharing her story, she asked other users whether she was a bad person for making the other passenger move.

However, it appears that most people backed her for sticking to her guns.

"Not the a**hole, and who cares what a bunch of strangers on a plane you will never see again think?" said one. "You've done nothing wrong. None of them will give it a second thought the next day."

While another added: "I will also say, like, as someone with anxiety on planes, having extra space MAJORLY reduces that anxiety. OP [original poster] is doing a good job taking care of their needs and I fully empathise."