Traveling with difficult co-passengers can be really bothersome. Some things they do may bug us but we mostly hesitate to confront them or clap back. Passengers who like to recline their seats might start feeling threatened by this unethical life hack (to deal with bothersome co-passengers) which has gone viral. According to their Etsy account, an anonymous TikTok handle @theLKshow which appears to be run by two "students from Great Britain," is advising people to redirect their overhead fans towards recliners in order to get them to readjust their seats. @theLKshow explained their strategy in white on-screen text in a six-second video facing the ceiling. Savage!

"Unethical life hack: When you are on a flight and the person in front of you reclines their seat all the way and leaves you no room. Turn on the air-con above you on full blast and point it at the top of their head," @theLKshow wrote, which is accompanied by the song Blicky from New Orleans music duo Fresh x Reckless. "The plane ride is so long when you get one of these people in front of you," @theLKshow captioned the video. The video had over 2.4 million views, 111,300 likes, 16,200 shares, 5,200 saves and 2,900 comments.

The video reignited an age-old debate about whether or not plane passengers should be able to recline their seats. Several other commenters reasoned that if everyone on the plane reclined their seats, everyone would have equal space. Seat reclining supporters cited a variety of reasons, including tall heights, back problems and neck aches. Others contended that the recline distance is insignificant and insufficiently comfortable and that passengers should be mindful of those sitting behind them. Those opposed to reclined seats also mentioned knee aches from uncomfortable seating, interruptions in movie-viewing meal or drink-related accidents and a lack of space to work on laptops or tablets.

Some Tiktok users suggested that passengers who need to recline should purchase exit-row seats, extra legroom tickets or business-class tickets. Others claimed that they never recline their seats, even on five or ten-hour flights. A few stated that sitting upright for that long would be too uncomfortable and they will carry beanies or similar hats in case an irritated passenger attempts to direct an air conditioner at their head while reclining. Some even mentioned or joked that they are always warm, so additional air conditioning would feel more like a reward than a punishment for reclining their seat.

"There are 2 kinds of people in this world: those who recline and don't care and those who will never recline," commented @katedej. "Seats are meant to recline. Recline your seat or upgrade to an area with more legroom," wrote @travel_with_yaz. "Thank you! Now I have more room and double air!" joked @dontstealcake. "Wish I had done this. The guy just told me that the seats move that far back for a reason. I was squashed the whole flight," shared @samiirocks20. "The real issue: Airlines continue to make seating smaller & smaller," added @mobility23.0. 

When Fox News Digital directly contacted the anonymous Tiktok account, the reply they received explained that they came up with the unethical life hack after seeing someone recline their seat from takeoff to landing but they never tested their air conditioner theory. "We were really surprised at how the video took off and it really created a huge debate all across the internet and we both really enjoyed seeing all the different arguments and points of view come forward," @theLKshow wrote. "It was purely a joke between two friends which we thought would be funny to share with TikTok. We do advise that the viewers don’t take the TikTok too literally and shouldn’t turn to pranks on a stranger on a plane but instead politely ask them to put their seat up."

According to @theLKshow, if a reclining passenger does not adjust their seat when asked, it is ultimately up to the person sitting behind to test the air conditioner trick because "accidents happen." They don't hold back from suggesting other "unethical" lifehacks. In another TikTok that received 23 thousand views they wrote, "If you want extra carry-ons for free when you go flying, go into the airport gift shop and ask for a gift bag. Put your extra luggage into this bag. It will look like you purchased all this at the airport, therefore the flight will let you bring it on for free." (They do check the bill. Tried and tested.)