WASHINGTON 鈥� When it comes to airplane etiquette, three out of four聽fliers feel fellow passengers are聽mostly considerate. But聽kids and seat-kickers tend to be聽responsible for some of the most offensive behavior.
A asked flyers to choose from a list of annoying behaviors they encounter from flying companions.聽Some of the top violations include:
- 聽Seat聽Kicker: 61 percent
- 聽Inattentive Parents: 59 percent
- 聽The Aromatic Passenger: 50 percent
- 聽The Audio Insensitive (talking or music): 50 percent
- 聽The Boozer: 45 percent
- 聽Chatty Cathy: 43 percent
- 聽Carry-On Baggage Offenders: 28 percent
- 聽The Queue Jumper (rushing to deplane): 35 percent
- 聽The Seat Back Recliner: 32 percent
- 聽Overhead Bin Inconsiderate (who stows bag in the first available spot, not the one nearest their聽seat): 32 percent
- Pungent Foodies: 30 percent
“[When you] fly by yourself, it seems like you always get put next to the most, like, inconsiderate types of people,” says Sarah Newell, of Loudoun County, who was at聽Reagan National Airport en route to Orlando,聽Florida.
“In the middle seat 鈥� you get put next to someone who has the window seat who has to go to the bathroom all the time, then with聽the person on the other side you either get a talker or the person who falls asleep toward you and invades your personal space,鈥� Newell says.
Citing one of the most annoying behaviors identified in the Expedia study, Cynthia Wilson, of D.C., says she’s most offended by insincere apologies made by inattentive parents.
“There’s always tons of them with kids kicking and screaming and grabbing your iPad and mom saying: ‘I’m sorry.’ But if you let kids do it more than once, are you really sorry?”聽Wilson observes with a sigh.
Flyers who encounter聽behavior that bothers them tend to grin and bear it, the study finds. Forty-nine percent of respondents say they would sit quietly and ignore the offenders.
One聽flyer聽at Reagan National said he wouldn’t notice even if someone was doing something others might consider annoying.
“I’m just easygoing,” said Gregory Campbell. “I’m old enough where simple things don’t bother me聽鈥� I just let it ride.”
Campbell 鈥� who lives in Lewisville, Texas 鈥� had聽a聽miniature American flag聽in his breast pocket, and聽said he’d been visiting Washington for Veterans Day observances.
