he incident occurred when podcast host Pat Cassidy was on a Delta flight from Austin, Texas, to Los Angeles, California.
The plane passenger claimed having his laptop screen destroyed ‘ruined his livelihood.’
Cassidy took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote: “Delta, small note for the suggestion box, maybe have a little warning sign or some way to prevent my laptop from being destroyed when the person in front of me reclines their seat.
“Also, this one is more of a critique than a suggestion. I really appreciate that your flight attendant came over to tell me that the passenger in front of me ‘needs to be able to recline’ and then asked him ‘if he was OK?’ as if your seat hadn’t just ruined my livelihood.”
After seeing Cassidy’s posts, people have taken to social media and debated the matter.
One person commented: “This is my biggest travel pet peeve. I think it’s rude to recline your seat.”
Another added: “I think it’s common sense not to open and lean your screen against the seat exactly for this reason.”
However, others took to the comments sharing their disagreement with the podcast host.
“It’s called a laptop for a reason,” one X user pointed out.
A second said: “Yeah, that’s definitely not Delta’s fault.”
Following the incident, Cassidy took to the Bar Stool Sports podcast and called the passenger who reclined their seat a ‘selfish b**tard.’
He added: “You should never fully recline! It’s rude and a sign of sociopathy.”
A Delta customer service agent responded to Cassidy on X after his post went viral, asking: “Goodness! Did you speak to a gate agent or Red Coat about the damage when you got off the plane?”
They suggested he fill in a complaint form ‘to have someone evaluate the damage and reach out to you.’
In a further update to the story, Cassidy claimed: “Delta is giving me the equivalent of a $75 gift card and an explanation that you would give a six-year-old. Cool.”
He attached an email screenshot, apparently from Delta’s customer service team, reading: “I’m sorry your laptop was broken due to another passenger reclining on your seat.
“It’s not fair when one person’s behavior affects another person.
“Please know that personal property damaged inflight as a result of a passenger action is not reimbursable. We regret the inconvenience this has caused you.”
Cassidy was also offered 7,500 ‘bonus miles’ on his SkyMiles account.
