After US incident, Aviation ministry tells flyers that the seat is not a sleeper berth

NEW DELHI: India’s Aviation ministry has asked flyers to be considerate towards other people’s space. The message from the Civil Aviation ministry comes after a video of a man punching a reclined seat in front of him went viral in the US.

“A little bit of basic good manners and respect are always worth a thumbs up. Your seat is not a sleeper berth. Don’t be inconsiderate of other people’s space,” said the tweet from Civil Aviation ministry’s handle. The tweet was shared under the ministry’s campaign to promote responsible travelling and etiquettes of flying.

On February 9, Wendi Williams tweeted from her handle @steelersfanog a video which shows that the passenger sitting behind her punched her seat repeatedly on an

American Eagle, a subsidiary of American Airlines, flight.

“Here’s a great jackhole! He was angry that I reclined my seat and punched it about 9 times — HARD, at which point I began videoing him, and he resigned to this behaviour. The other jackhole is the Americanair flight attendant who reprimanded me and offered him (a complimentary) rum!”

“It is a good initiative by the ministry to tweet this. While reclining economy seats is an issue globally, our authorities must tackle something uniquely Indian — the habit of passengers to stand up as soon as the aircraft comes to a halt after landing. Our crew has to keep announcing during taxi to the terminal, asking passengers to remain seated and not to open overhead bins to take out their bags as that could hurt other flyers,” a news report quoted a senior pilot as saying.

‘A little bit of basic good manners and respect are always worth a thumbs up. Your seat is not a sleeper berth. Don’t be inconsiderate of other people’s space’