#Tiktok #viral #news a new viral tiktok trend has seen plane passengers warn each other about 'seat squatters' — people who grab unoccupied seats without checking with the flight attendants or waiting for boarding to be completed. this trend has left many air travellers frustrated and confused, wondering why some people feel entitled to take seats that do not belong to them. the term 'seat squatters' refers to passengers who take unoccupied seats without asking flight attendants or waiting for boarding to be completed. recently, influencer shannon ella shared her experience with this trend in a video that has now garnered over 212,000 views on tiktok. in her video, she recounts how a man took her seat and refused to move when confronted. ella questioned, "is that a thing that people are doing on planes now? they just sit in your seat and just go like, 'no, it's mine, i sat there first so minesies?'" the comments section of her tiktok video is filled with similar stories from other passengers, who have experienced the same issue. one traveller even shared an incident in which she handed her two young children to the woman occupying her seat, prompting the woman to quickly find her own seat. a flight attendant named olivia commented on the tiktok: "i'm a flight attendant and once a passenger says someone is in my seat, i 100 per cent make them move to their assigned seat." similar stories are also being shared on reddit forums, where one user claimed they witnessed three 'seat squatters' on a single flight, including a man who insisted that he was supposed to be in seat 12b instead of his assigned seat 28c. another user on instagram noted: "this happened to me in turkey on my way to nigeria. a man was in my exit seat and told me to sit in his seat in the back. i thought he wasn’t understanding me until [someone] stood up and yelled for him to get outta my seat. he jumped up and scurried to his seat so fast!" to avoid these kinds of situations, passengers can pay for specific seats when booking their flight. alternatively, if a passenger wants to move seats on the plane, they can ask a flight attendant or gate agent. if you have not pre-booked a seat on a flight, or spoken to a flight attendant or gate agent and had your seat upgraded or switched before boarding, your best bet is to wait until the boarding process is complete. once every passenger has boarded, you will be able to see if the plane has empty seats or rows. you can then ask a flight crew member whether you are able to sit in one of those seats. on some flights, especially those with many empty seats, a flight attendant may announce that there are empty seats and people can move if they wish to. however, there may be limitations to this. for example, if there are many empty seats in first class, you cannot just move there if you were previously in economy. people are also sharing potential solutions, such as selling them the seat or denying them boarding. overall, it is essential for passengers to be aware of their assigned seats and to respect the seats of other passengers to avoid any conflicts during the flight.