Once a glamorous affair, air travel for everyone but the elite is now just a few steps away from hell. You’re treated like cattle, have to submit to TSA officers’ wishes, and then there’s the cramped seating to look forward to. It’s not surprising, then, that air rage is on the rise in the U.S.

For one teen, her flight looked like it was headed for trouble after the kid behind her wouldn’t stop kicking her seat. The kid’s parents weren’t doing anything about it, so the teen’s dad took matters into his own hands.

More info: Reddit

Modern air travel isn’t great, but this unruly kid was determined to make it even worse

Image credits:Anna Gru / Unsplash (not the actual photo)

He wouldn’t stop kicking the seat of the teen in front of him, and his parents were doing nothing to stop him

Image credits: Oleksandr P / Pexels (not the actual photo)

The teen let her dad know, and he politely asked the kid to quit his kicking and behave

Image credits: cottonbro studio / Pexels (not the actual photo)

The kid didn’t stop, so the teen’s dad decided to take revenge by reclining his seat all the way back into the mom’s legroom

Image credits: insertfunnyname06

The kid’s parents tried to kick up a fuss, but the flight attendant sided with the dad, forcing the parents to finally discipline their kid

OP begins her story by telling the community that, a few years ago, she and her dad were on a night flight from India on a budget airline with very little legroom. Seated behind them was a mom, dad, and their 10-year-old son. About 10 minutes into their flight, the kid started kicking her seat and wouldn’t stop.

She let her dad know, and he politely asked the obnoxious kid to stop. The kid stopped for a few seconds but then started again, forcing the teen’s dad to ask the kid to quit it more firmly, but the kicking continued. That’s when the dad had the smart idea of reclining his seat as far back as it would go, straight into the kid’s mother’s lap.

The parents immediately asked the dad to put his seat back up, even calling the flight attendant over to complain. The flight attendant asked the dad whether he’d like to remain reclined, to which he replied in the affirmative. 

After the kid’s parents figured out what the issue was, they finally got the kid to stop, but the teen’s dad kept his seat reclined for another hour, just to teach them all a lesson. According to OP, they had to endure glares from the family for the rest of the flight, but that didn’t bother them—revenge had been served.

In her article for Vox, Aditi Shrikant writes that, according to the International Air Transport Association, from 2007 to 2016, there were 58,000 unruly passenger incidents reported. 

And while some sources say air rage incidents have increased, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, the prevalence has decreased steadily since 2012 (as of October 1, there have only been 77; in 2012, there were 183).

Image credits: Jeffry Surianto / Pexels (not the actual photo)

So, what is it about flying that leads to unruly behavior? Well, air travel is stressful even under the most ideal circumstances, and a large part of that comes from having to give up control, which happens long before you even reach the plane seat. 

Sally Augustin of Design With Science, a company that offers consultations on how to build spaces with positive psychological outcomes, says the whole concept of airplanes is awful from a psychological perspective. 

“We’re in a tube where we can’t leave and where all sorts of stressful things happen to us, so it’s not surprising with all the mental energy that is diverted to dealing with that stress, we snap at each other,” says Augustin.

In her article for Psychology Today, Wendy L. Patrick writes that research suggests air rage may be related to physical and situational inequality. 

Specifically, aboard a plane, antisocial behavior can be triggered by physical design that highlights inequality. Katherine A. DeCelles and Michael I. Norton describe a modern airplane as a “social microcosm of class-based society,” resulting in perceived inequality.

Their research discovered that having a first-class cabin increased the incidents of air rage in economy class, and front boarding, which requires walking through the first-class cabin (as opposed to boarding from the middle of the plane), increases the risks of air rage in both economy and first class.

From what OP tells us in her story, her dad wasn’t exactly on the verge of air rage, but things could probably have gotten worse if the parents involved hadn’t told their kid to settle down and if the flight attendant hadn’t been so accommodating.

Bored Panda reached out to pilot and blogger Patrick Smith of Ask The Pilot to get his take on air rage.

Smith had this to say, “Let’s face it, flying has a way of bringing out the worst in people. The lines, the noisy terminals, the delays… it can all be pretty unpleasant and stressful. Given the sheer number of people who fly — two million daily just in the U.S. —  I’m surprised air rage incidents aren’t MORE common.”

What would you have done if you’d been in OP’s seat? Do you think her dad was justified in taking revenge on the bratty kid and his oblivious parents? Let us know your opinion in the comments!

In the comments, readers agreed that the dad gets an A+ for revenge and claimed that some people just can’t be reached unless the situation impacts them

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