Things took a strange, confrontational turn for a passenger on a flight from New York to Los Angeles. Per the NY Post, Justin Escalona was on American Airlines flight 171 on Monday when he was woken up by a fellow passenger. She asked the LA-based cinematographer to switch seats with her. She then allegedly took his seat and refused to leave. His story has now gone viral on Instagram, with over 4.9 million views. In the clip, Justin claims, “It is currently 6 in the morning, and I am getting in a fight in the first class section, on a flight back to LA from New York. So I was half asleep, and this woman, she is currently in my seat, woke me up because she was like, ‘Hey, you mind swapping seats?’ And I thought it was because, like, she wanted, like, a better view or something. And no, it’s because her seat doesn’t recline, and she’s like, it’s somehow my fault, and she won’t get out of my seat.” In the video, Justin walks to his seat and films the woman sitting with her hand on her forehead. When Justin tells her, “You got to get out of my seat. This is crazy,” she makes a strange statement. She states, “I’m going to UCLA.” Justin fires back, “I went to USC, so that makes it even worse.” The confrontation seems to have begun with miscommunication When she still refuses to get up, Justin tells her, “You’re holding up the entire flight. You’ve got to get out of my seat.” The woman insists, “You were moved, sir.” Justin stands his ground, pointing out, “My boarding pass says 6A, yours says 3F.” Sometime after that, he films her leaving. Once he finally reclaimed his seat, a passenger sitting across from him chimed in, saying, “Bro, you were almost robbed!” to which Justin replied, “Oh good lord, you saw that?” Justin told NY Post that he might have been open to swapping if there was a sentimental reason or if she just wanted a different view. He alleged, “She didn’t even say please or thank you! Just bolted over to my chair & wouldn’t get up.” He added that even if she had been polite, it might have been a different outcome, but unfortunately, he claimed that was not the case. In one case, a woman who refused to swap seats had to call for intervention when things got hostile. View this post on Instagram According to the NY Post, Justin claimed that the woman told everyone he had to move from his seat since he had not paid for it. Escalone told the outlet that he had been upgraded to first class on the flight because he was an AAdvantage Executive Platinum member. In the video, he included a screenshot of his boarding pass to back it up. That tier is the highest publicly available status within the airline. American Airlines notes that AAdvantage status members can receive complimentary upgrades on eligible flights if space is available. These upgrades are requested automatically and confirmed based on status tiers, with the highest tier, AAdvantage Executive Platinum, being eligible for confirmation as early as 100 hours before departure. Now, it should be noted that in the video, and in the interview with NY Post, all we have is Justin’s perspective. Throughout, he never clearly states if he willingly swapped seats with her in the first place. It also seems that he didn’t ask her why she wanted to switch seats, just made an assumption. In the NY Post article, he claims that “she didn’t like her chair.” In a different case, a recent United flight descended into arguments when the crew announced seat changes. Instagram had plenty to say, with comments ranging from support to heavy criticism of how Justin handled it. One user wrote, “Her entitlement is absolutely insane. The main character syndrome with people nowadays is serious. I’m glad you stood your ground and made her ass get up.” Another viewer questioned the logistics, asking, “How did she know you were upgraded?” One critic wrote, “The only person who comes across as an a**hole from what I can see is you. You didn’t have to give up your seat; you decided to give up your seat regardless of the reason. You made an assumption then you decide to stick your camera in her face calling her a Karen etc I wonder how you would feel if people were sticking a camera in your face as far as I can see you come across as just a bully.” Another critic added, “FYI. He didn’t inform attendants. Instead made it into a moment for social media engagement. Typical influencer.” There is one lesson here. The next time someone asks to swap seats, just say no.