American Airlines passenger Justin Escalona says he was woken mid-flight by a woman who allegedly tried to take his first-class seat because her own would not recline, in a confrontation captured on video that has since gone viral online.
A woman has been accused of waking a fellow first-class passenger and attempting to take his seat after hers wouldn’t recline properly. Justin Escalona, 27, was asleep ahead of a 6am American Airlines flight from New York to Los Angeles on Monday when he was disturbed by the unnamed passenger. He said he initially assumed she wanted a better view for the five-and-a-half-hour flight, but after he declined to switch, she allegedly sat down in his seat, 6A, anyway and refused to move.
What happened on board
Escalona, who runs the streetwear brand 1340 COLLECTIVE, filmed part of the confrontation, in which he can be heard telling the woman she was being “crazy.” He recalled: “I thought she wanted a better view but no, hers won’t recline and somehow it’s my fault. She won’t get out of my seat; she’s just in it.” In the video, the woman stares silently at Escalona for several seconds before sighing and saying, “I’m going to UCLA,” a reference to the University of California, Los Angeles. Escalona responded: “I went to USC, so that makes it even worse,” referring to the University of Southern California, before adding: “You’re holding up the entire flight. You’ve got to get out of my seat.”
He then turned the camera to show other passengers listening in on the dispute. The footage ends with the woman gathering her belongings and moving, while Escalona returns to his original seat. Despite the disruption, the flight departed on schedule and landed in Los Angeles shortly after 9am, according to flight tracking service FlightRadar24.
Escalona’s account
Escalona shared the video on Instagram, captioning it “fighting a Kren in first-class.” He later clarified in the comments that he had not paid for his first-class seat, explaining that he holds American Airlines AAdvantage Executive Platinum status and had received the seat as a complimentary elite-status upgrade. The woman, he said, had paid for a seat in 3F. According to Escalona, the woman argued that because she had paid for her own first-class ticket while his seat came via an upgrade, he should be the one to move.
Escalona said the woman “bolted” into his seat without thanking him after he initially agreed to consider swapping. “Even if she was polite about it maybe I would’ve said whatever just take it I’m feeling nice. Sadly not the case,” he wrote. He added that he might have agreed to switch seats had she been polite or offered a personal reason for the request, but said she never said “please” or “thank you” throughout the exchange.
Escalona also described being confronted by another passenger during the incident, saying: “Shout-out to the random passenger in first (not shown in this vid that came up to me saying, ‘Are you really not going to trade with her? You’re a dick’. Yet… He didn’t offer to trade her either lol.” After the confrontation ended, another first-class passenger reportedly joked to Escalona: “Bro, you almost got robbed.”
Online reaction
The video has since been viewed nearly five million times on Instagram, sparking widespread debate online over airline seating etiquette and passenger entitlement. American Airlines had not publicly commented on the incident at the time the story went viral, and both the airline and Escalona have been approached for further comment.
