However, Blair and Hardaway have since been criticised for turning the lives of two strangers into an online rom-com after they live-tweeted the saga - which quickly went viral.
The initial tweet thread has now been retweeted nearly 370,000 times – attracting plenty of media attraction along the way for Blair, Hardaway and the male half of the #PlaneBae pair, later identified as Euan Holden.
The woman Hardaway switched seats with remained silent and Holden posted a video asking people to respect her privacy. However, after he let slip her first name in the video, online sleuths quickly managed to track her down.
Earlier, Blair and Hardaway has posted a video saying the woman had not consented to her identity being shared.
"We don't have the gal's permish yet," Blair said, adding, "But I'm sure you guys are sneaky."
However, some people raised concerns about Blair's suggestion that "sneaky" people might be able to find the mystery woman.
Others noted that the woman had reportedly deleted all her social media channels after being identified and harassed.
Many people who initially enjoyed the story said they now had regrets after retweeting it and criticised Blair and Hardaway's voyeurism as "an invasion of privacy".
In an opinion piece for the Atlantic, Taylor Lorenz wrote that secretly live-tweeting strangers for viral fame was "gross" and Blair and Hardaway had taken it too far.
"Even after Helen was forced to quit social media once trolls discovered her account and hurled sexist insults at her, Blair encouraged her followers to investigate and expose the woman's real identity," she wrote.
"Blair also continued to milk the controversy throughout the weekend, posting selfie video updates with information about the drama and attempting to capitalize on her viral success by promoting her acting career and asking for a job at BuzzFeed."
Blair responded to the criticism on Instagram with a long photo caption where she described herself as "some strange variety of journalist".
"I saw a story unfolding in front of my eyes recently and it filled me with the hope of possibility," she wrote.
She described how as a plus size woman, she had believed "dating and love were experiences that simply wouldn't happen for me", but was proved wrong after meeting her boyfriend.
"I hope that many of you are inspired by the story I shared, she wrote. "Sharing this story has also made me reconsider some of the thoughts of negativity I too have been guilty of putting out into the world."
