Man’s viral post calls out fellow passenger for seat choice on empty plane

You get on a plane and it’s pretty much empty … where do you sit? This man’s decision went viral.

A travelling chef has called out a fellow passenger for sitting directly behind him on an empty flight – igniting a huge debate about plane etiquette.

“Imagine having the luxury of boarding a flight with only two passengers on it. Of all the seats on the flight, look where he decided to sit,” Anthony Thomas wrote, sharing a photo to X, formerly Twitter.

The selfie showed two other people on the flight; one a fair distance in the back and one in the seat directly behind Mr Thomas.

It has been liked more than 230,000 times and attracted thousands of comments.

A travelling chef has called out a fellow passenger for sitting directly behind him on an empty flight. Picture: Twitter / Chef Anthony Thomas

The US budget carrier, Southwest Airlines, does not have assigned seating, which means passengers choose any available seat once on board.

“It’s just like the folks who park right next to you and it’s tons of available spaces,” one top comment read with 18,000 ‘likes’ in support. Some others compared it to using a urinal beside.

“I think these people are extremely co-dependent,” read a second comment with another almost 20,000 ‘likes’.

Other top comments joked about ways they would turn the tables and make the other passenger uncomfortable instead.

“I’m farting as loud as possible,” suggested one person.

“I’d move to the seat right next to him lol,” another wrote.

“I’ma recline that seat all the way tf back,” a third said.

Some passengers speculated the man may have been anxious to fly and preferred to sit near others, or questioned why Mr Thomas didn’t just move seats himself.

“It seems like the rare opportunity to enjoy extra space was too tempting to resist. Choosing a seat directly behind another passenger somehow feels like a classic human moment — even with an empty plane, we gravitate towards familiarity,” one person wrote.

“I’m sorry but if I board an empty flight im not sitting by myself either … that’s creepy,” stated someone else.

“You don’t own the flight I have a right to sit anywhere I want to,” argued a third person.