Passenger gets stuck between dad and baby on flight after parent refuses to swap seats

People were left incredulous after learning the dad refused to swap seats with another passenger, instead leaving the stranger to sit between himself and his baby

Sitting next to a baby on a flight can be frustrating at the best of times. But for one passenger who ended up in such a seat, the situation was made even stranger when he ended up sandwiched between the child’s parents. While most people would expect the family to ask to swap seats, the dad refused to give up his aisle spot, leaving a stranger to sit next to his wife and his child.

Baffled by the situation, the unlucky passenger took to Twitter, where many struggled to understand the dad’s choice. Sam Neve tweeted: “Just boarded a flight and I’m sat with a couple and their baby, but the husband refused to give up his aisle seat so I’m now just… in the middle of them?”

Luckily for Sam, he did not find himself awkwardly stuck in the middle of a conversation. In another turn, the dad went on to ignore his partner and child for the duration of the two-hour flight.

Sharing an update for bemused commenters, the passenger added: “He stuck his headphones in, ate an entire pack of Haribo and didn’t talk to her for the entire two hour flight.” Several people were quick to blast the dad, suggesting he had been trying to shirk his responsibilities as a parent.

“Of course he didn’t want to sit in the middle. Then he might actually have to help with his own child instead of expecting his partner to not have down time on a holiday that should also be for her to refresh,” read one such reply. However, others defended the dad, thinking he might have been keeping quiet for the passenger’s benefit.

“Maybe with you being in the middle, he was conscious of talking across you and was being polite and considerate,” someone suggested. “Would you have liked them to keep passing the baby to each other over you or having a conversation with you in the middle.” Another person pointed out the dad might have had good reason for not wanting to swap seats.

“Some people are quite frightened about flying and use different coping strategies. Headphones on pretending you’re somewhere else is one of them. Having an aisle seat is another. You never know what’s really happening in his head,” they said. Some also suspected the trio had booked two seats apart, hoping the airline would leave the seat next to the child free for their use.

Thankfully, all of the passengers went on their way happily, as the passenger revealed when a commenter wrote: “Obviously hoped the middle seat wouldn’t be sold so could stretch out with baby … so pretty poor show by him, frankly! Any chance of moving or is it completely chockablock?” Sam replied: “Very busy, full flight unfortunately. Only a couple of hours, so no harm done – just a little odd!”

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