In an attempt to keep passengers from sitting in seats with added legroom, and for the airline to save money, one American Airlines attendant came up with an unusual way to make these seats off-limits for passengers that didn't pay for them. Many on social media are opposing viewpoints on what happened on a particular flight earlier this month.

Taking The Air Out

On an unspecified American Airlines flight, presumingly an international flight from the U.S., Threads user Crystal Summerz explained how a male flight attendant pulled cushions off of six Main Cabin Extra seats to keep passengers from switching to those seats.

During the flight, passengers sat in these seats of their own will, as they were all empty. Attendants told the passengers they were premium seats that cost $150 extra, and they had to return to their original seats. Despite warnings over the PA system, passengers were still moving to these seats, and that was when an attendant decided to remove each seat's cushion.

Summerz' post on Threads has since been deleted, but this was her original message:

"Is American Airlines the new spirit of the sky? A passenger went to sit in these empty seats. No one was using the six empty seats. The flight attendant said he needed to move because they were $150. Someone else went to sit there and told the same thing. An announcement was made not to sit in the seats. Two more times ppl went to sit there because it was six seats open, and he literally tore the cushions off.😂once we departed they said if you leave anything on, you will be returning to the USA"

Opposite Sides Of The Aisle

This story has apparently caused a heated debate on whether American Airlines is in the right to prohibit economy class passengers from moving to upgraded seats for free.

"A lot of people defending the airline here. Quick reminder, paying for emergency, aisle, window, closer to the front is just some BS the Airlines realized they could get away with because weak people caved. The next step is you are on a flight that is mostly empty and they have everyone stacked on top of each other because they refuse to pay to spread out. First 20 rows empty and everyone on top of each other in the back. You all know that is ridiculous!," said @sdwilson11.

"yeah but…once the plane takes off, there’s no $$ to be made on those seats anyway. not sure why they made such a big deal out of that," added @sandiego_cindy.
 

"Wouldn’t you… Want someone in the exit row? At least one person?," replied @mm1970sb.
 

"I can answer this. Main Cabin Extra seats cost more. Flight attendants are instructed by our procedures to direct passengers back to their original seats if they’re not in Main Cabin Extra. Sorry, but you can’t just self upgrade. You can pay the upgrade fee and be upgraded if the seat is available but if a premium customer complains it’s our head on the line. You can speak to the gate agent about potential upgrades before boarding. It’s not a power trip, it’s our job," explained @Jasonpoststhings.

"Sit where ya paid for. Fools make flying so hard," @Mchughshawn retorted.

"Before anyone sits at the emergency exit seats FAs need people’s consent of willing and able. So unless you are specifically booked into those seats, People can’t just claim those seats even if they are empty," remarked @peter.alina.

Main Cabin Extra seats haven't just five additional inches of legroom for passengers. Passengers' other perks include free Wi-Fi, a free carry-on bag, free snacks and drinks, and priority boarding. So, it makes sense for American Airlines to be stingy when passengers try to sneak into these seats.
 

At one point, however, American Airlines did allow passengers to move to any seat in the cabin once the doors on the plane closed, and even explained on the website that economy passengers could switch to premium seats freely if available. A policy change has apparently happened, in which the airline no longer mentions or encourages this.

As of this writing, Southwest Airlines is the only "Big 4" airline to allow open seating for passengers, but this will change next year as a means to make flights "more orderly and comfortable".