During a flight across the country, Jetblue forced Samuel Cristol to share his seat.
That’s correct. Cristol had a partial seatmate on his flight — a man who did not quite fit in his own space. And, although the guy seemed pleasant enough, Cristol did not want to share his seat. Now, he wants JetBlue to compensate him.
Cristol’s story is one that points to the importance of self-advocacy. If an airline presents you with an unreasonable situation, it’s critical to clearly voice your refusal — immediately — and politely. Otherwise, your complaint after the fact may not have the intended impact.
*I originally published this article back in 2018. It has last been updated and fact-checked for accuracy on Dec. 6, 2024.
Two JetBlue passengers who didn’t want to share a seat
“I was on a six-hour flight,” Cristol recalled. “As I got to my seat, I noticed a very large man in my seat. I politely told him that was my seat. He moved over as best as he could but was still halfway in my space.”
Cristol then told me about a very unpleasant cross-country flight, including multiple photos of his experience. He didn’t want to share his seat, but he says JetBlue forced the situation onto him.
He acknowledged that the large man in the middle seat did his best to remain there. Although he had no animosity toward his fellow passenger, Cristol also thought JetBlue should have protected them both.
“I’m 73 years old. He was sitting on half of my seat,” Cristol explained. “I spoke to the attendant, but there wasn’t anything he could do. The flight was full. This guy could be a lineman for a major team.”
Note: Cristol shared some photos of his seatmate that he had taken without the man knowing. The images showed that the two were sharing a seat.
He shouldn’t be forced to share his seat — and neither should you
If you are ever faced with any airline seat problem, it’s critical to alert a flight attendant before the flight leaves the ground. There is very little that can be done 30,000 feet in the air if that’s the time you decide to lodge your complaint and there are no other seats available.
Before I had children, I had my own seat-sharing experience. I was traveling alone from New York to Paris in business class. A man boarded the flight with his “lap child,” who appeared to be around five years old.
The duo sat down beside me, and the little girl made herself comfortable on the shared console between our seats. She was a friendly little girl, and she was very excited to be traveling to Paris. As the flight was boarding, we had a long conversation about all the things she planned to do there.
It was a lovely conversation.
But I didn’t want to spend the next eight hours with her on my arm. I wanted to watch a movie and then have a short sleep. I asked the flight attendant about the situation. She took a quick look at the manifest and realized that the man had booked his small child’s seat in economy — alone. He booked himself in business class.
I felt slightly guilty as the man was forced to take a seat in economy with his child. But as a mom now myself, I’m not sure what he was thinking. A parent’s place is by their minor child’s side while traveling. She was far too old to sit on his lap — or on our shared console – and far too young to be sitting alone in economy.
All of this was taken care of before the plane took off. On the ground is where the airline can correct these seatmate problems.
Airline seats are getting smaller
Unfortunately, the problem of seat encroachment on flights is getting worse. The airline seats are shrinking, but the average U.S. passenger is getting larger. This is an equation that can result in only one thing — angry, uncomfortable travelers. Whether you are a person of a larger or smaller size, you will likely be affected.
The airline industry is ignoring an undeniable fact — a portion of their customers do not fit comfortably in their seats. Some don’t fit in the airline seats at all. And this problem can affect every traveler.
We have a problem here. So it’s important for passengers of all shapes and sizes to voice their objections about these shrinking seats to the Department of Transportation.
This situation is the plight of all travelers, big or small, short or tall, on airlines worldwide.
Seatmate problems around the world
I’m short and petite and don’t usually have a problem in economy seats. However, I just had another unusual seat-sharing encounter on a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul to Palermo.
A very tall, well-dressed, husky man — (not overweight, just a big guy) and I were seated in the exit row. He was in the aisle, and I was in the window. We both had plenty of space, as the middle seat was empty. That is until the plane took off, and then this man bizarrely moved into the middle seat, leaned his back into me, and stretched his legs out into the aisle.
It seemed like a joke, but I knew it wasn’t since I didn’t know anyone else on the plane. It was a short flight, so I decided to see how this would play out. I put my tray table down and my arm on the armrest to decrease his ability to expand into my space. Then I put on my headphones and looked out the window, trying to ignore his antics. There was a beautiful sunset, so it wasn’t that difficult to become distracted by the view.
Turkish Airlines is excellent, and even though the flight was just two hours, the flight attendants soon came by to serve a full dinner (Yes, in economy class!).
Since there was no possible way for this passenger to put the tray table down in the middle seat beside me and eat, he moved back to his aisle seat, and the odd situation was over.
I’m still not sure what exactly was going on there. But had the flight been longer and he had returned to squoosh into me, I would have been forced to ask him to move.
I’m sure I know precisely how Cristol felt on his cross-country flight.
JetBlue offered a $100 future flight voucher
I contacted JetBlue about Cristol’s complaint that he was forced to share his seat for hours and hours. I did not want to embarrass the other passenger, but the photos showed that this gentleman was not contained in his own seat. Cristol was undoubtedly sharing his seat space with this man.
Our JetBlue executive contact responded;
Hi Michelle,
Our Customer Support has reviewed your reader’s comment and our past engagement with him regarding his experience. We understand this is a sensitive issue and we try to make each customer as comfortable as possible in order to provide the best flying experience, and we regret that there may not have been another available seat to move to. While we aren’t able to honor the request for a full refund for the value of the flight as a gesture of apology, we issued both customers a $100 JetBlue credit in hopes their experience next time is more enjoyable.
Bottom Line
Unfortunately, this was the final answer from JetBlue. Both passengers had an uncomfortable and unpleasant flight. The value of their tough 6-hour journey is $100 each in a future travel voucher, according to JetBlue.
To avoid the same fate, it is critical that passengers be proactive — and speak up before the flight leaves the ground. (Michelle Couch-Friedman, Founder of Consumer Rescue)
Wow… not good at all, and $100 is not nearly enough for a 6 hour flight inconvenience!
I tend to agree with you, Dave. But the problem is that he didn’t complain while on the flight. There may have been alternative seats to move to. You can’t really suffer in silence and then ask for compensation later.
I know my view is definitely politically incorrect, but it’s based on reality. Pax who are too large for an airplane seat know it. They book one seat in coach anyway. Nobody else is aware of it until they show up at the airport. This is a most self-absorbed attitude. Airline agents should be empowered to take care of the problem. As long as the affected pax keep putting up with this boorish behaviour, it won’t change. Just like the agreement you sign about baggage and prohibited items before you check in, there should be one that attests to the fact that you fit into the seat. Right now, all we can do is deal with the problem ourselves. I would never agree to being squished by a fat person, even on a short flight; I’d ask that they be removed from the flight and rebooked. Failing that, I’d ask to be rebooked on another flight. We pax need to step up and defend ourselves.
That guy with the “lap child” had booked a seat in business class and chose to sit with his daughter in economy? I would have gladly swapped my economy seat for his business class seat so he and his daughter could sit together!