Do Not Do These Things On Airplanes

According to the most recent Airplane Etiquette Violations Survey which was conducted by SurveyMonkey on behalf of The Vacationer, these are the biggest pet peeves fliers have about their follow passenger’s behavior. In total, 1,098 Americans over the age of 18 were polled. Of those surveyed, 47.27% were male and 52.73% were female. 

In general we’re not too surprised by this ranking of bad behavior on planes. Sadly these pale by comparison to some of the more egregious acts which have made headlines recently. But they’re still rude and there’s no place for them in the air.

Respondents were able to select as many actions as they found irritating. There was also an option for “None of These.” For convenience purposes, the survey ordered the annoying plane etiquette violations starting with the worst or behavior most frequently found annoying.

Until some form of common decency returns to the skies, we expect the actions below will continue unabated. As one exasperated fellow traveler once remarked on a recent flight, “rude people suck.” We couldn’t agree more.

Ranking of the worst etiquette violations:


1. Kicking the Back of Your Seat
 — 59.11%
2. Drunk and Disruptive — 59.11%
3. Smells from Poor Hygiene or Too Much Cologne/Perfume — 48.00%
4. Inattentive Parents / Poor Parenting — 46.81%
5. Eating Pungent or Foul-Smelling Foods — 39.80%
6. Hogs the Armrests — 39.07%
7. Reclines Seat Fully in Front of You — 38.25%
8. Talks to You Too Much — 29.87%
9. Boards or Deplanes Out of Turn — 29.60%
10. Listens to Music or Movies Too Loudly — 28.96%
11. Takes off Shoes — 23.59%
12. Flirting with You, Passengers, or Flight Attendants — 21.89%
13. Gets Up to Use Restroom or Stretch Too Much — 19.95%
14. Uses Overhead Bin Space Many Rows in Front of Seat — 18.12%
15. Overly Affectionate Couples — 14.12%
16. Requests Too Much from Flight Attendants — 13.02%
None of These — 11.57%