AN AIRLINE passenger who was enjoying the luxury of a near-empty plane was left fuming at what a fellow flyer decided to do next.
Washington-based chef Anthony Thomas took to social media to call out the baffling decision from the other passenger which ultimately ruined his flight.
Anthony, who hails from the vibrant DC metropolitan area, was handed an almost unheard-of scenario when just two other people boarded the plane.
But when the culinary chef was just about to kick back and relax, one of the other travellers decided to sit directly behind him - despite having the luxury of the whole aircraft to sit in.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter) to vent his fury, Mr Thomas shared a selfie he had taken to show just how close the man had decided to sit to him.
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“Imagine having the luxury of boarding a flight with only two passengers on it,” he wrote in the post's caption.
“Of all the seats on the flight, look where he decided to sit.”
The third passenger clearly got the memo and can be seen sitting towards the back of the plane and well out of sight.
Anthony was on board a Southwest Airlines flight, which has an open seat policy for its passengers, according to its website.
This means that travellers flying with the airline can pick any open seat once they board their aircraft — making the man’s choice of seat on the nearly empty flight even more strange.
It's unknown where Anthony was travelling to and how long the flight was, or whether either he or the other passenger decided to move seats.
Nonetheless, the image garnered more than 35 million views after being posted on Tuesday and thousands of people took to the comments section to give their their view on the situation.
One person said: “I would’ve moved, honestly. Dude is weird and I wouldn’t want him behind me just for that reason."
Another added: "I would have been so passive-aggressive when I changed seats."
However, many were quick to jump to the other passenger's defence, listing a number of reasons for his decision to sit so close.
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"I think these people are extremely codependent," suggested one.
"He probably has anxiety when it comes to planes/flying & being near someone else gave him a sense of safety/security," commented another.
Others, however, saw the funny side and offered their own jokes and takes on the man's decision, including suggestions that he could have been the air marshall.
But Anthony isn't the only passenger to enjoy an empty flight in recent times, with one man left stunned when no one else got on his plane.
Passenger Robbie Allen was travelling from Sydney to Fiji with Virgin when he realised he would be the only passenger on the aircraft.
And a dad was also stunned when he turned up to the airport to discover he was the only passenger boarding his Jet2 flight.
Paul Wilkinson was called a "king" by the cabin crew and treated the flight as if he had his own private jet.