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The 19 Most Annoying Passengers to Sit By on a Plane


Skift Take

Expedia tries to sum its survey with a sunny figure that says 84 percent of passengers believe fellow flyers are considerate, but the excitement around increased in-flight device use suggests most people prefer to fly with as little human contact as necessary.

Inattentive parents and flyers that kick the back of other passengers’ seats are the most inconsiderate travelers in the skies, says a new Expedia survey released today.

The study, conducted by Northstar, surveyed 1,001 U.S. adults on the in-flight behaviors that bother them the most. The violations ranged from smelly and talkative seat mates to line jumpers and frequent bathroom users.

But nothing makes a flyer cringe as much as a crying children. The Expedia survey found that 63 percent of travelers “often feel annoyed” at parents traveling with loud children and that 49 percent would pay extra to sit in a quiet zone.

However, Skift’s consumer survey found that only 15 percent of respondents would be willing to pay an additional fee to sit in a child-free zone.

A few other fun findings from that Expedia study are that 22 percent of travelers consume more than two alcoholic drinks during air travel and 38 percent of travelers believe whoever sits first can claim which armrest they use.

The full list of in-flight offenders is below, ranked from most to least annoying:

Airplane Etiquette Violators Annoyed Travelers (%)
1 Inattentive Parents 41
2 Rear Seat Kicker 38
3 The Aromatic Passenger 28
4 The Boozer 26
5 Chatty Cathy 23
6 Audio Insensitive 19
7 Seat-back Guy 13
8 Carry-on Baggage Offenders 13
9 The Back-Seat Grabber 12
10 The Queue Jumper 12
11 The Armrest Hog 11
12 Mad Bladder 11
13 Pungent Food Eaters 9
14 The Mad Dasher 9
15 The Amorous 9
16 Overhead Bin Inconsiderate 9
17 The Undresser 9
18 The Pre-Boarder 6
19 The Seat Switcher 5

 

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