In the situation in the original article, the men asking for the accommodation should be the ones to be moved. It is likely that some of the passengers in the non-reclining back row next to the lavatory will be willing to trade seats with them.
But that wouldn’t solve the issue unless you were traveling in a group taking a whole row…because you cannot predict who will choose to sit next to you!
+1
Re: Cultural norms. If I went to certain countries, I know that I would have to cover my head or not drive a car, despite the fact that I would find both those cultural norms highly intrusive and offensive. When people with cultural norms that are counter to our laws come here, they need to respect our cultural norms and laws.
The woman should have just told the flight attendants that she was gender fluid and was identifying male that day. Problem solved, no need to move seats.
“But our nation has decided to make every little thing about affronts to women so I get why this woman is making a lawsuit out of it,”
Wow.
I wonder if there is chance this lady could be “out-affronted?”
It just seems that there are growing segments of people who are falling all over themselves to be considered the most marginalized target and to be labeled a victim of an oppressive society. The goal, of course, being to get some special treatment - as determined by them. Therefore, the identify and self-identification of the men does matter and how their life situation is viewed,
There are also those automatically deemed marginalized groups. So my question is, who are these men, exactly? What if the men are, for example, refugees from a war-torn area who are considered more marginalized than being female and telling them what they believe is wrong would be considered a bigger affront than asking the female to change seats? I could think of tons of other examples.
In our current environment today, it will be interesting which grievance/affront wins out, i.e., the claim of affront presented by the female or the claim of the men being affronted to sit next to a female.
Funny.
However, gender fluid only works if the person complaining buys into such beliefs that gender is fluid. Therefore, I would would say the men not wanting to sit next to the woman would not change their position if the female still looks and acts like a female, regardless what the flight attendant says.
Time for some new worldwide aviation rules:
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On odd days men move. On odd days the requestor moves.
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On even days women move. On even days rearrange to accommodate the requestor.
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Require gender to be shown on seating chart.
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While waiting in line to board, require passengers to chant “My way is not the only way, my way is not the only way”…this might do some spouses good also
“In our current environment today, it will be interesting which grievance/affront wins out, i.e., the claim of affront presented by the female or the claim of the men being affronted to sit next to a female.”
We can always use the SCOTUS approach - strict scrutiny, intermediate scrutiny, etc. Or we can do paper, rock, scissors approach. Or first dibs approach.
“It just seems that there are growing segments of people who are falling all over themselves to be considered the most marginalized target and to be labeled a victim of an oppressive society. The goal, of course, being to get some special treatment - as determined by them. Therefore, the identify and self-identification of the men does matter and how their life situation is viewed,”
Oh please. This is not a case of somebody crying they are a victim. This is about someone not putting up with discourteous crap, because of her sex. In every country, you should be careful about their customs, including the United States. That means women aren’t treated like second class citizens, and blacks aren’t required to sit in the back of the bus anymore. It sounds like all she wanted was an apology and an explanation that the gate agent was in error and would be retrained. She got neither. This is absolutely not the way to treat a passenger, particularly not an elite status flier who spends a lot of money on your carrier.
Now, I don’t even have a problem with the men getting the heebie-jeebies about sitting next to a scary woman. In my opinion, they certainly can ask the gate agent ahead of time, as long as they are not directly telling the woman that she must move. That’s an entirely different animal, and I would tell them, “Nope, you move if you have a problem”. I suspect it was just easier for the gate agent to move one woman (and women rarely complain), than to move two people. However, what he should have done was relocate the men. He could have also paged the woman ahead of boarding, told her the issue, and offered her an upgrade if one was available (particularly since she was an elite status flier). Otherwise, move the person demanding accomodations. That’s just basic common sense.
As far as what I would do. If I was being moved to a better seat (particularly first class), no problem. If I was being moved to a worse seat, I would be unhappy. I will generally trade my seat if someone requests, unless they are offering me a crummy middle seat. It is, however, difficult to deal with a gate agent once they start boarding people, as they are busy and everyone is lined up behind you. If I had an exit row seat, that is when I would make a big deal. Not because the seat is so great, but because as a matter of safety, I don’t want people who can’t deal with women directing the evacuation of the aircraft. No way. And I guarantee you that the carrier I always fly on (Delta), if I complained, they would respond quickly, apologize profusely, and probably deposit some airmiles in my account.
I always pay extra or use FF miles for my seat: either economy plus, exit row, or business/first. If they can’t move me to an equivalent seat, then NO, I will not move unless there is some kind of issue with the person’s health and safety, or to keep a parent and a very small child together. If someone didn’t want to sit next to a black person, everyone would be in agreement that HE would need to move. But because this is a “religious” mandate not to sit next to a woman, SHE is the one who should accommodate? No.
I don’t want “special treatment,” I want to get what I paid for.
I think airlines should have a policy and stick to it. “We have unisex seating, we have unisex bathrooms, flight attendants, pilots, baggage handlers. If you don’t want to be exposed to this, do not book a ticket with our airline.” If they want to offer 2-3 seats per flight that can be reserved for no interaction, that’s fine but no special orders for service by only male flight attendants so no soup for you!
What would happen if there was an emergency and a female flight attendant had to touch them to proved help, make them follow an order for the safety of all passengers? Just because they are wearing orange robes doesn’t mean they are superhuman and won’t have a medical need or a safety need? What if they were ordered, midair, to transfer to another sear because of an emergency?
Of course, UAL should have just made the change and not told the woman why. They do it all the time for legit reasons, so should have just handed her the new seat assignments without explanation.
Orthodox Jews are completely comfortable with ignoring these “laws” if a human life is at risk.
I don’t know what religion the men were who were complaining on this flight.
You could always tell the female flight attendants what happened, and ask them to accidentally touch them while serving their drinks. 
Just kidding. Kind of.
From the article linked in the opening post:
I guess thise guys think they’re holier than the Dalai Lama.
If you’re that picky about whom you sit next to, then maybe you should just buy the adjacent seat, like people who travel w a cello.
I have broken every rule in the book and no one seems to mind. I teach (as a volunteer) ESL to new entry adult refugees (most over 50). I happen to be a person who touches…I have patted them on the arm or shoulder to praise them, my arm/shoulder has brushed against them as I reach across to give direction and I often hold their hand in mine to guide the pencil to show how to properly write a number or letter. No one seems to mind. Outside of the classroom they follow their religious teachings (I have mostly HIndu and Muslim students) , but Inside the classroom they have no issue sitting next to a female student.
I do not do it out of disrespect, but rather enthusiasm and encouragement so maybe they sense that…
I’ve heard of this “problem” being used to leverage up to 1st class cabin.
Ha! A religious aversion to sitting with hoi polloi?
“Ha! A religious aversion to sitting with hoi polloi?”
Yeah, so they need to upgrade you! Sitting in steerage is against your religion.