A passenger who flew in the front row of a plane, facing other passengers, has been so “scarred” by her experience that she is “unable to recover.”
Jess Smith posted the view from her front row seat on a flight to Greece that had her glaring at fellow passengers in a viral TikTok.
She did not specify which airline she was flying on, but she seemed uncomfortable sitting in her spot right in front of everyone else.
“When you reserve the front row on a whim, but you end up facing the entire plane,” Smith said. “You’re never going to recover.”
People commiserated with Smith about the rear-facing seating arrangement and agreed it would be their worst nightmare.
“I would ask to be taken off the plane and have my ticket cancelled. My anxiety would never be able to do that,” one person said.
Jess Smith (pictured) said she will “never recover” from boarding a plane and discovering her front row seat faced the entire cabin.
Smith looked uncomfortable as she sat in her spot right in front of the others.
“This is like something irrational I would experience in a bad nightmare,” another said.
“I was so anxious that I accidentally made eye contact with a lot of people,” a third person said.
A fourth person said: “The entire plane in front of me the entire flight sounds like my worst nightmare.”
Others had suggestions for Smith on how he could use the situation to his advantage.
“He would pull out a pad of paper, stare at each person for several minutes, then fiercely write notes, alternating between fits of laughter and angry glares. If it’s going to be awkward, I’m on my way,” one person said.
“At that point, I’d be in my own world, pretending to be an undercover air marshal. I’d have lived a whole life in my head by the time we landed,” another said.
Zach Griff, a senior aviation writer for the travel blog The Point Guys, said Fox News that the rear-facing seat is not that uncommon.
He said that in the United States, American Airlines and United offer rear-facing seats in business class for some models and that the arrangement is more common abroad.
Of United Airlines’ 945 aircraft, 23 have optional rear-facing business class seats available.
“Of course, in the economy cabin, traveling rear-facing is certainly an uncomfortable experience,” Griff said.
‘My recommendation to travelers stuck in these types of seats is to bring an eye mask and possibly also some reading material or other entertainment options to distract themselves from what is undoubtedly an uncomfortable experience.’