Economy flights can be uncomfortable in the best of circumstances. Between the lack of legroom and sharing armrests with strangers, it’s hard to sit in one place for 10 hours. Still, a recent passenger’s solution is raising eyebrows.
A TikTok video shared by McKailey Fast (@mckaileyfast) shows her planting her bottom in her window seat as she raises her legs so high that her feet touch the ceiling above the window. Her arms are wrapped around her legs, holding them in place. She moves the camera from her feet to her face, which is swaddled in a blue neck pillow.
The writing at the top of the clips says, “When 10+ hours in economy starts to feel like 10+ hours in economy.”
In the caption, Fast pleads, “Give me your hacks? My tailbone can’t take this.”
The video went viral
White modern airplane flying over snow covered mountains
(Dushlik via Getty Images)
So far, the video has received over 1 million views. Although many offered Fast helpful advice, such as traveling with compression socks and a tailbone pillow, others were appalled. Comments included:
“Maturing is doing the aisle seats & getting up to do stretches whenever the seat light goes off.”
“Am I the only one who sees the problem with this?”
“I know other people want to say something about the foot smell.”
Passengers seated in economy class of a commercial airplane during flight, close-up view of people and seats, in-flight travel atmosphere
(Marija Bazarova via Getty Images)
Still, others sympathised with her plight with comments like:
“People in the comments have never been in on 8h+ flight.”
“I genuinely do not see a problem with this.”
“Girl, do what you want.”
Long-haul flights can cause health issues
The video sheds light on an important issue. Long-haul flights impact your health. Popular Science reports that the cramped conditions can lead to deep vein thrombosis. In a nutshell, this means a risk of blood clots due to poor circulation. Standing, moving, or flexing your legs diminishes the risk.
It sounds like Fast is on to something. There’s more than one way to stretch your legs. Although her method was unconventional, it might have saved her from problems down the road.
Still, taking off your shoes mid-flight is a controversial practice
Removing shoes is a controversial travel practice because no one wants to be confronted with another passenger’s foot odor. Although Fast was in socks, one would hope she verified her tootsies weren’t emanating an unpleasant smell before she placed them on the ceiling.
We’re guessing next time she’ll pack a tailbone pillow and compression socks.