Airline passenger Wendi Williams is not only speaking out about her viral video of a man aggressively thrashing her reclined seat with his fist but now she's also considering pressing charges.
Williams, speaking on "Fox & Friends" Monday, said she was flying from a teachers conference in New Orleans to Charlotte, N.C., and immediately reclined her seat once in the air. Williams was traveling on American Airlines' subsidiary, American Eagle.
"He asked me if I would put my seat back up while he ate, which I did," Williams said. "About 10 minutes later, he was done and I put my seat back down at which point he started full-on punching the back of my seat very hard."
Williams said she thought taking a video of the man would convince him to stop.
"I thought he would completely stop, but he continued throughout," Williams told the Fox & Friends hosts, "just poking, it was nothing compared to what he was doing prior."
Williams said although she still doesn't know the man's identity, she's talking with an attorney as she considers pressing charges.
"I wish he would come out of the woodwork," Williams said.
Williams also said the flight attendants "had an attitude" with her while attempting to defuse the situation and asked her to delete the video of the man punching her seat. When she refused, she said she was handed a passenger disturbance notice and told she could be removed from the flight if she didn't comply, according to TMZ.
The now-viral video of the mystery passenger rocking Williams' reclined seat with his fist has ignited a conversation across social media about proper etiquette when flying on commercial airlines with little legroom. The man behind Williams appeared to be in a section of the plane where his seat could not recline.
"We are aware of a customer dispute that transpired on American Eagle flight 4392, operated by Republic Airways on January 31," American Airlines said in a statement last week. "The safety and comfort of our customers and team members is our top priority, and our team is looking into the issue."
Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian joined the conversation Friday, saying he believes the proper etiquette is to ask permission before reclining your seat.
"I think if someone knows there's a tall person behind them, and they want to recline their seat, I think the polite thing would be to make certain it was OK," Bastian said.
Sara Nelson, president of the world's largest flight attendants union, had a different take. In an interview with news site Bustle, she said the fault lies with airlines.
"The reality is that airlines have squeezed out any excess space," said Nelson, whose Association of Flight Attendants _ CWA represents nearly 50,000 workers. "They've brought seats closer together ... Conflicts between passengers are our biggest challenge (as flight attendants.) We are de-escalating conflicts more than ever before."
