PEOPLE asked a travel expert to weigh in on the divisive incident after the mother wrote on Reddit that the other flyer told her she should be "ashamed" for taking the seatA mother claims that after a flight attendant offered her and her 19-month-old son a chance to move to a row with two empty seats, a passenger in the new row became angry
She said the flight attendant told her that the unnamed airline tries “to accommodate people with young infants,” and even though both were standard seats, she’d have more space in the new spot.However, she continued, the one passenger who had been seated alone in the new row didn’t appreciate their arrival “at all.”
The original poster claimed her son ”ended up crying only once,” and concluded that despite receiving “some stinky eye and some other rude comments,” she didn’t regret switching seats, since the extra room made the flight more comfortable.In an edit to the post, she noted that her son was on her lap for the entire flight, and the purpose of the extra seat was simply “to feel less crowded and not bump elbows.
Jackson says she understands “not loving the idea of sitting next to a baby” as well as “the momentary mix of thrill and relief you feel when your row is empty after the doors have closed and boarding is done.” Jackson believes the mother “did the right thing by staying,” especially since it wasn’t even an upgrade in seat type.complaints about that for a short haul, three-hour flight and with a baby who was by and large quiet. Had either of them been particularly invasive of the space or loud, sure, I can understand this being an issue. But she states that her bag fit under the seat and that the open seat remained open.