Some unwritten rules of airplane etiquette include not reclining your seat, refraining from bringing in strong-smelling food, and ensuring your kids don’t turn the aisle into a playground. These insights come from a recent YouGov survey of over a thousand U.S. adults.
Survey results revealed that letting your kids run around, getting drunk, or not following safety instructions are big no-nos for 80% of respondents. Furthermore, using both armrests (74% disapproved) and eating smelly food (68% were against) were also deemed unacceptable.
Interestingly, opinions diverged on certain behaviors. For example, an equal number of people were split on whether it’s fine to make phone calls when the seatbelt sign is on. It seems pet-friendly policies were divisive too, with only 37% okay with pets onboard and even fewer (28%) approving of cats traveling in the cabin.
But there are some behaviors that the majority are cool with, like using a laptop on the tray table or politely waking your seatmate to go to the restroom. Over half are okay with closing windows during takeoff or landing, and a majority don’t mind reclining their seats on full flights.
For frequent flyers, certain actions are more irksome than for those who don’t fly as often. Differences in pet policies, acceptance of safety demos, and engagement with in-flight calls were more pronounced between the two groups.
YouGov’s online poll of U.S. adults was conducted just before Memorial Day weekend, which marks the unofficial start of the summer travel season. Industry predictions suggest the upcoming months will see a significant uptick in air travel, with U.S. airlines preparing to accommodate millions of passengers.