Manspreading on plane leads to huge online debate

Is this passenger taking manspreading too far or does his height give him an excuse? The internet can’t decide. Photos / TikTok

A traveller has captured the moment a fellow flyer infiltrated her space by “manspreading” in his seat, stretching his legs across the aisle.

The clip, which has been viewed by 3.5 million people, has sparked an online debate over whether it is okay to take up so much space while on an airplane, reports NY Post.

“The way this man took manspreading to another level on my flight,” Claire wrote in the caption of the TikTok, which was filmed during a flight from the United States to South America.

The video shows the man with his legs stretched out such that one of his legs is placed across the aisle into the space in front of Claire’s seat.

The leg-stretching man’s antics invited a flurry of criticism on social media.

“He’s about to give birth,” one shocked viewer joked, while another commented: “Across the aisle is crazy”.

@claireandpeter

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A third jested: “Dude is an absolute manspreading champion; we all should look up to him”.

“All of a sudden I’d have to get up to go the bathroom an awful lot!” said another.

One crew member also chimed in, writing: “As a flight attendant I’d be announcing a reminder to keep the aisle clear”.

On the other hand, some social media users took the spreader’s side, with many saying his height was an understandable defence for his space violation.

“6ft4 man here, can confirm this needs to happen on flights,” argued one person, while another wrote, “Look how long his legs are though I understand that”.

Flight blog A View from the Wing advises flyers who end up stuck next to a manspreader to look for an empty seat on the flight and subtly ask the cabin crew if they can move.

If that’s not possible, the traveller should ask themselves why the person might be encroaching on their leg room.

There might not be much you can do if the person is larger than the seat, the blog reveals.

However, if the person could easily take up less space, flyers should remedy their situation and politely ask the leg-spreader to move their legs.

Calling over a member of the crew should be a “last resort”, the blog says.

“A flight attendant isn’t going to stay by your seat through the flight to monitor your seatmate’s behaviour,” they admit.

“But if the person is clearly abusive, getting it on record with the crew can be a prophylactic measure.”

In another spout of bad news, manspreading incidents on flights could potentially get worse in the coming years if the recent AI prediction is correct and “sardine can” seating becomes normalised for air travel.