On United Airlines flight 2479 from Houston to San Francisco on New Year’s morning, just after arrival, a woman decided that her seat was “in the middle of the right aisle” of the Boeing 777 aircraft.
The plane had pulled too far forward at gate F19. Everyone had gotten up and taken out their carry-on bags. Passengers were in the aisle, ready to deplane.
However everyone was told they’d have to get back into their seats – since they needed to have a tug push back the aircraft in order to connect the jet bridge.
This woman decided she’d sit, but not in her original seat:
One commenter online noted “you couldn’t pay me to sit on that floor.”
We’ve seen passengers seated in the aisles before, and sometimes in the lavatory. That’s in the very unusual case where planes depart with more passengers and seats.
It’s certainly not standard procedure, and usually not allowed!
- In 2017, Pakistan International Airways gave 7 passengers on a Boeing 777 handwritten boarding passes to stand in the aisle of a 1,700 mile flight from Karachi to Medina.
- In 2019, a British family had to sit on the floor of a TUI flight from Mahon, Spain to Birmingham when the carrier swapped planes for an aircraft that didn’t have their row.
- In 2021, a Delta flight from Charleston, South Carolina to Atlanta left the gate with two more passengers than seats. Two employees traveling went up to the front to flag the problem and the plane went back to the gate.
This woman had a seat all the way back to San Francisco. I get that United’s coach seats aren’t well-padded and after a few hours in them your back can start to hurt.
But I don’t see how the aircraft floor would be more comfortable.
