A video about a passenger who was “harassed” for the entirety of a 14-hour Qatar Airways flight from Doha, the capital of Qatar, to New York has gone viral on TikTok.
Jamia Essie (@essiebtravelin), a 32-year-old from Los Angeles who is based in New York and co-owns the travel company Curate Life LLC, shared the footage of the encounter. The clip has garnered 10.5 million views since it was posted on August 1.
Text overlaid on the clip says: “This is exactly why I never want to fly economy again EVER!!” The caption added: “This flight turned into a horror movie! PSA: If you lean on strangers mid-flight… don’t.”
Essie said the ordeal began as soon as the flight took off. “It started immediately when we got into the air and it persisted the entire flight,” she told Newsweek. “She repeatedly encroached on my personal space, leaning into me, sprawling across armrests and seats, and physically touching me without consent. Beyond that, she harassed me, subjected me to minor sexual assault, and even threatened me, creating a deeply unsafe and intimidating environment throughout the flight.”
The viral post comes as air travel continues to see strong growth, with a record load factor—the percentage of available seats filled by paying passengers—reported for international flights in May, the International Air Transportation Association (IATA) said in June.
Willie Walsh, the IATA’s director general, said in a statement: “Globally, the industry reported five percent growth with Asia-Pacific taking the lead at 9.4 percent. The outlier was North America, which reported a 0.5 percent decline, led by a 1.7 percent fall in the U.S. domestic market.”
Clips in the viral TikTok video show the woman seated next to Essie crossing into her space in various ways—her legs stretched “all the way” into Essie’s area and her head resting on the poster’s shoulder. At one point, text overlaid on the clip reads: “She clearly doesn’t believe in personal space.”
Another segment shows the woman leaning forward with her head against the tray table, as Essie explains: “I asked politely for her to get up and she acts like she can’t hear or understand me.” Later in the video, the woman is seen holding a knife utensil. Essie captioned the moment: “I’m taking this knife hold as a threat!”
Essie told Newsweek that the woman was “seated in the middle seat and appeared to be traveling alone.” She said: “I do not know the exact reason why she was holding a knife, but I can only assume that she became upset due to my repeated requests to the flight attendants for assistance, asking her to move or stop touching me. It seems likely that she used the knife as an intimidation tactic in response to the situation.”
Throughout the flight, Essie said she repeatedly informed Qatar Airways crew members of the harassment. “I notified the flight staff multiple times throughout the flight, clearly explaining the woman’s behavior and my concerns for safety,” she said. “Unfortunately, their response was limited and insufficient. While they acknowledged the situation, the actions they took did not effectively address the harassment or ensure my safety, leaving me feeling vulnerable and unprotected for the duration of the flight.”
Essie said the incident has significantly changed her approach to long-haul travel. This experience “1,000 percent” put her off economy travel, she said, noting: “I never want to fly economy again.”
Newsweek has contacted Qatar Airways for comment via email.
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