Why this United flight attendant is blocking empty seats with a ‘barrier’
Passengers on a recent United Airlines flight were left crammed and disappointed.
On a May 24 flight from Honolulu (HNL) to Los Angeles (LAX), there were plenty of empty seats still available after everyone was boarded and the cabin doors were closed.
Passengers hoped to spread out and move to the empty seats, but after asking permission from a flight attendant, things took off.
According to one person who requested to switch to an empty seat, the flight attendant told them it would be $180 per person.
When passengers denied paying a $180 surcharge, the attendant opened all of the seats’ tray tables in order to block people from getting into the chairs.
Open seats after doors were closed used to be fair game, but now different airlines seem to have different policies.
In the past, United has argued that it’s “not fair” for a passenger to move to an Economy Plus seat since they have an extra charge and other customers actually did pay for the extra space.
“If you were to purchase a Toyota, you would not be able to drive off with a Lexus, because it was empty,” the airline tweeted in 2019.
Many people in the replies to the user’s tweet seemed to agree with this policy because the premium seats aren’t the same cost.
“How would you feel if you paid for one of those seats and then someone self upgrades after they close the door?!?” someone asked.
“Good, pay or get status, they are premium seats,” one person responded.
“Those are seats you need to pay extra for or have status to use. You can’t just decide to self upgrade,” another said.
Others were on the side of the passenger and didn’t understand what the big deal was.
“Yep, United sucks. They’re charging $180 for what, 3 more inches?” someone questioned.
“What’s next? Credit card charge to go to the bathroom? Up charge for air? Come on United, being decent to your customers costs nothing,” a user wrote.
“What gives @united?? If the seats are empty and it’s too late for additional passengers to board, why would moving seats be an issue?” one said.
