Misc

What Do Americans Find Unacceptable on Airplanes?

Published

7 months ago

July 2, 2024

Bruno Venditti

Graphics/Design:

Bhabna Banerjee

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What Do Americans Find Unacceptable on Airplanes?

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Flight etiquette has become a big topic as more and more people travel and as legroom and luggage space seem to be shrinking.

In this graphic, we bring the results of a survey that asked Americans about airplane behaviors they consider acceptable or unacceptable.

Methodology: The poll was conducted online from May 23 to 26, 2024, among 1,152 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel using sample matching. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected based on the 2019 American Community Survey. The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4%.

A Review of Flight Manners

More than 80% of Americans agree that it’s unacceptable for passengers to let their children play in the aisle or for other passengers to get drunk on the plane.

Meanwhile, 66% consider it unacceptable for passengers not to pay attention during the safety demonstration, but 20% consider it okay.

Behavior	Acceptable (%)	Unacceptable (%)	Not Sure (%)
Let their kids play in the aisle	5	86	9
Get drunk	9	82	8
Leave their seat during turbulence	7	82	11
Watch a movie without headphones	11	81	9
Leave trash in the seatback pocket	11	79	9
Use both armrests when someone is sitting next to them	11	74	15
Eat strong-smelling food	14	68	17
Not pay attention during the safety demonstration	20	66	15
Exit the plane before people in the rows in front of them	14	65	21
Not set their devices to airplane mode	16	64	19

Leaving the seat during turbulence is not only dangerous but is considered a no-no for the majority (82%) of passengers. If you want to watch a movie, make sure you have your headphones to avoid complaints, as 81% of people say it’s unacceptable to listen out loud.

Acceptable Behaviors

Finally, here are some of the less contentious behaviors according to the poll results.

The majority of respondents (51%) consider it acceptable to ask to switch seats with another passenger. Meanwhile, if you are one of those who likes to make friends, chatting with a stranger next to you for the entire flight is generally acceptable (46%).