A video of a “weird” plane seat where you can “jump right over to the emergency exit” has gone viral on TikTok.
The video was captured by Chris Olsen (@jetset.genius), who lives in San Diego and works in local government, on an American Airlines flight traveling from Phoenix to San Diego on June 23. He was seated in row 10 of an Airbus A321 aircraft, Olsen, 43, told Newsweek.
A caption shared with the post, which has received over 213,000 views since it was posted on June 28, says: “Weird airplane seats you have to see to believe— Airbus edition.”
The camera pans from the plane aisle across the seats in front before showing the row he’s seated in, which has only two seats. The space for a third seat is occupied by a jump seat, which is for non-passengers who aren’t operating the aircraft. The jump seat is facing in the opposite direction of the passenger seats.
Olsen told Newsweek: “I booked this seat on purpose because I’m an aviation geek and like to try out weird seating layouts for the love of planes.”
It “would be a good seat for someone afraid of flying,” he said. “It’s also cool because you can chat with the flight attendant when they’re seated in the jump seat, and they usually have interesting stories to share.”
Air travel continues to see strong growth in the post-pandemic era, after grinding to a halt during the height of COVID because of safety restrictions.
Total passenger demand in April was reported to be up 11 percent, compared with April 2023, the International Air Transport Association reported in May. In November 2023, total air traffic worldwide was reported to be at 99.1 percent of November 2019 (pre-pandemic) levels, according to an IATA report in January.
‘An Interesting Configuration’
A message overlaid on the viral video says: “The flight attendant jump seat is where the window seat should be. Nice if you’re a couple—no third seat. And you can jump right over to the emergency exit if needed. lol.”
Olsen told Newsweek that he was on a full flight and his seatmate hadn’t arrived yet, so it was easier to capture footage of the unique seating arrangement.
“I’ve been across from jump seats before but never to the side,” he said. “It was an interesting configuration because the row only had two seats, so it was nice that no one had the middle seat.”
He continued: “It’s interesting because usually the jump seats are on bulkheads and not in the middle of all the seats.”
Although only two passengers were in this row, there were three spots where passengers could place their bags under the seats in front, he said.
TikTok users shared their own unusual experiences on a plane.
James L said: “Had this seat on my last flight and was great. I put my bag under where the window seat would be.” Olsen replied: “That’s perfect then you get the space in front of you for legroom.”
User @mean_spaghetti wrote: “I sat there w a big a$$ dude on the aisle, worst 2.5hrs of my life.”
Olsen replied: “Oh no! It’s a super narrow seat, only recommend for couples or family or friends.”
And @annabooby wrote: “I sat in the window seat in the emergency exit row and I had to make awkward direct eye contact with the attendant sitting in the jump seat.”
Olsen responded: “Haha the seat with the stare-off with the flight attendant can be awkward but also cool conversation sometimes!”
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Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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