A Delta Air Lines passenger encountered an odd seatmate who insisted that ALL air vents be closed because he was cold. Sorry, that is not the way it works, and like seat recline, you have a right to open (or close) your own personal air vent onboard.

Personal Air Vent Fight On Delta Air Lines – Who Has Control?

A passenger shares of an odd encounter on a Delta flight:

Currently on a flight head westbound. I am on the right side of a 3 passenger row. The person sitting in the middle has now 3 times closed my AC vent either while “adjusting” their own vent or when I stood up to go to the bathroom. The vent is pointed towards my face, nowhere near their direction. I will politely bring it up if it happens a 4th time…

It happened a fourth time:

We were about 20 minutes from landing when they again, for the 4th time, began adjusting my vent. I asked them to please leave the one for my seat as it is as I’ve adjusted it to my liking.

This dude looked me in the eyes and said I paid for my seat, not the communal AC system. I again stated each seat has a vent (out loud as you guys suggested) and he told me it doesn’t work like that??? He tries to say if one vent is open then they all are open? Anyways he starts saying that people don’t always get their way in public transportation and that the current temperature was “more than comfortable”. FA did get involved right away, the man demanded a cup of hot water if he was expected to “sit here shivering”. He got his cup of hot water and held it against his pulse points while animatedly shivering lol.

I’ve written about this happening before (the context was a violent fight on a transpacific flight to Japan), so those folks saying this story is made-up strike me as barking up the wrong tree.

In that instance, the fight was over using an air vent in the empty middle seat. One passenger was warm, the other was cold. There, I reasoned that since the direction of air nozzles can be adjusted, it was permissible to direct that middle seat air vent toward the warm passenger.

But here, the issue is even more clear-cut.

Just like you have an absolute right to recline your seat (except during meal service), so you have an absolute right to open your air vent.

We all have different body thermostats and that is exactly why the air vents are individual (one per seat) and why they can be pointed toward you (and therefore away from others). My son Augustine, 8, is in this quirky growth phase where he’s always warm…no jackets or sweaters needed. On a recent flight, he was warm while I was cold. That’s exactly what the air vent is for!

Regarding the transpacific story, I also said, “My takeaway is that if I encounter a seatmate who simply wants to argue, I stop engaging and contact a flight attendant,” and that applies here too.

This guy on the Delta flight sounds mentally unhinged. The idea that “I paid for my seat, not the communal AC system,” and “people don’t always get their way in public transportation” applies to him, too.

If this happens to you, don’t argue with losers like this…just flag down a flight attendant. I’m confident that the flight attendant will side with you, as the flight attendant did here.

> Read More: Argument Over Air Nozzle Turns Violent
> Read More: Man Shakes Seat Violently To Prevent Recline On Turkish Airlines

Hat Tip: View From The Wing