Air travel is common for modern people, where a group of strangers spend hours together in the narrow space of an airplane, which can easily lead to conflicts due to differing opinions on flight etiquette around the world. What behaviors are most annoying and lead to conflicts? A new survey has revealed the truth.
According to a report by CBS News on August 26, a survey conducted by travel website The Points Guy (TPG) in conjunction with YouGov of 2,500 American adults found that passengers using their cell phones, laptops, or other personal electronic devices to make voice or video calls, or to watch TV shows and movies without wearing headphones, are the biggest source of conflict on airplanes. Additionally, inappropriate dress is also considered to be a behavior that causes aversion.
The survey showed that 40% of passengers believe airlines should ban voice and video calls on board, with 27% of passengers considering such noise the most annoying behavior during the flight.
“This situation also often occurs in the boarding area before boarding, where people sit there with their cell phone volume turned up watching videos,” said TPG executive editor Becky Blaine to CBS News. “And this isn’t limited to any age group. From children playing on iPads to elderly people using phones, it’s a diverse range of people.”
Airlines are well aware that passengers are very sensitive to the noise emitted by neighboring devices. In March of this year, United Airlines revised its regulations, requiring all passengers to wear headphones when listening to audio on personal electronic devices, including browsing social media that may emit alert sounds.
United Airlines also reserves the right to remove passengers who violate regulations and even has the authority to ban them from boarding their flights again.
The debate on whether passengers should recline their seats has been a long-standing and quite a headache-inducing issue. The TPG survey found that the majority of adults (51%) feel that reclining the seat is acceptable. Only 10% of respondents stated that reclining the seat during a flight is absolutely unacceptable.
TPG believes that given that passengers in the middle seat have the most cramped space in the row, they should have the right to use both armrests. However, respondents don’t see it that way: only 11% believe that passengers in the middle seat can rightfully occupy both armrests.
Most people tend to prefer comfortable clothing when traveling by airplane, often choosing flexible or loose-fitting clothes; some even board wearing pajamas directly. In response to this trend, the U.S. Department of Transportation launched an initiative last Thanksgiving, encouraging Americans to dress appropriately during flights.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy at the time posted on social media, “Dress decently when going to the airport, lend a hand to strangers, and keep a good mood.”
However, the general public has their own opinions on this matter. In the joint survey conducted by TPG and YouGov, over 70% of respondents believe that the most appropriate attire is “dress as comfortably as you like,” including casual sportswear and loungewear.
Only 9% of respondents believe that passengers should wear more formal clothing.
Although comfortable dressing seems reasonable, only 1% of people believe that wearing pajamas on the plane is acceptable.