Man, 72, Flying With Disabled Brother Not Prepared for What 'Entitled' Passenger Does

Newsweek

30-05-2025

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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A man was left bewildered when a plane passenger sat in his seat on a flight and refused to accept they were in the wrong.
Bill Rosenberg, 72 and from Texas, has been flying American Airlines for "decades," but on a recent trip experienced something he never had before.
While stories of attempted seat stealing are rampant online, with the internet loving tales of rude passengers getting their comeuppance, Rosenberg said he had been through something "new to me."
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In his case, there was no sob story about why the passenger needed his seat, or a mother asking for a swap to be closer to her kids—instead, the seat "squatter" simply denied he was in the wrong seat.
Rosenberg told Newsweek he thought it was a "pretty novel and unusual way to take a seat," and so he shared the story to Reddit's r/EntitledPeople sub on May 26 via his account u/anclar52, where it racked up more than 9,000 upvotes.
He explained he was traveling with his brother, 80, who uses a wheelchair and needs "a bit of looking after during a flight," so ensured to book two aisle seats across from each other on the fully booked plane.
But when they boarded, Rosenberg found a man sitting in his aisle seat—and when Rosenberg told him, the man said he had it wrong, and that Rosenberg was supposed to be sitting in the window seat.
"I've been flying on [American Airlines] for decades, and on a plane with 3x3 seating, C&D are the aisles, A&F are windows," Rosenberg wrote. "I attempted to explain this, nicely, to him. He insisted that I was wrong and he was right."
Rosenberg decided not to argue, and instead flagged down a flight attendant "to explain the seating letter system to him"—but he then "tried to argue with her that the airline booked him with the wrong seat."
Stock image of a man looking out of the window from a seat on a plane.
Stock image of a man looking out of the window from a seat on a plane.
tirc83/Getty Images
Eventually, the passenger moved to his assigned window seat, with Rosenberg giving the guy "A for originality."
He added: "The only way to deal with these entitled folks is to be polite, but firm, and involve the flight attendant if you can't make any headway."
He told Newsweek: "When I encounter a difficult situation in general, my usual way to handle it is to initially not assume bad intent. For all I knew, the gentleman may have been genuinely confused.
"It was only after I had explained his apparent misunderstanding of the seat ID system that it became clear he was either being deliberately obtuse or else trying to game me out of my seat."
Reddit users shared their own stories in the comments, one recalling: "I had an old lady try to pull that one on me, and after I explained it, she pretended she didn't speak English. I then explained it in Spanish, and she huffed at me and moved. She had no trouble speaking English to the flight attendants when she wanted something from them."
Another wrote: "I had a woman try to make me take her aisle seat so she could have my window seat with the same argument. When I tried to explain the letter seating she refused to believe me. Luckily she gave up and pouted her way through the flight but I was both surprised and amused. The thing is I would have happily switched with her if she asked but you can't just demand someone's seat."
A 2023 survey of 1,000 plane passengers in the United States and Canada, on behalf of travel booking website Kaya, saw respondents say it was okay "to ask to switch seats if you ask politely", as 54 per cent appreciated common courtesy.
Rosenberg told Newsweek the flight attendant "handled the situation perfectly and resolved it"—and thankfully, a second passenger sat between Rosenberg and the man, "so I didn't have to sit next to him. We had no further interaction during or after the flight."
As for the big response to his post, Rosenberg admitted he "never expected" it.
"I guess many folks are frustrated with the proliferation of seat pirates in the air these days."
Newsweek reached out to American Airlines for comment.