Airplanes are an environment where hundreds of people are packed side-by-side in a metal tube for many hours high above the earth's surface.
Passengers hail from all walks of life have almost nothing in common other than that they happen to be on the same flight.
Aircraft is one of the most important places for passengers and crew to maintain proper airplane etiquette.
Arguments that get out of hand can force the aircraft to divert, and that can result in fines and compensation charges against troublemakers running into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Airplanes are crowded at the best of times (by design), but during the holiday period, they are typically even more crowded while people's patience may be wearing thin. According to CNN, this Thanksgiving was a record-setter for air travel.
"Throw in a seat-kicker, a tipsy stranger and someone who’s blissfully barefoot, and the holiday odyssey becomes a little more challenging." - CNN
It is always important for passengers to have even a basic level of self-awareness - e.g., if neighbor passengers are sleeping, don't talk loudly. A little respect goes a long way. As many a parent has said, "manners are free."
Most people are fully aware they need to put up with others snoring and being uncomfortably close to others when they are used to their personal space.
CNN singles out noise-canceling headphones as a particular issue regarding passengers' self-awareness. Headphones are great for blocking out the snoring and other noises of other passengers (and crying infants), but they also mean passengers can get lost in their own world.
It's polite to take the headphones off while boarding the flight when flight attendants come around with the food cart.
It's not just about other passengers; it's also important to be polite and show etiquette to the flight crew.
While they are trained to show etiquette and manage the crowd huddled in the cabin, they are people too, and a warm smile or 'hello' can go a long way toward brightening their work day.
There are a number of predictable areas where passengers can get into arguments - other passengers having taken the overhead space and sitting in one's assigned seat are two classics. It is often better to make sure it doesn't become personal by just pointing the issue out to the flight attendants and then letting them resolve it.
Anyone can put their seat into its reclining position, but it should still be remembered that it can annoy the person behind them (especially if they are watching a movie on the seatback screen or using the tray table).
Window shades can be a touchy topic, with some people wanting them up and others wanting them closed. Passengers need to work it out civilly. Passengers who don't like the light of the window could consider booking a seat away from the window and letting people who like to gaze out the window and watch the world pass below.
Example conflict issues:
- Passengers sitting in wrong seat
- Reclining backrests
- Putting window shades up/down
- Hogging the armrest
- Spreading legs into the aisle
- Talking loudly
- Kicking the seat in front
- Tipsy/drunk passengers
Passengers are typically free to bring their own food on an aircraft, but they should also be considerate of other passengers in a contained space (e.g., avoid smelly fish and hard-boiled eggs). Talking of being smelly, passengers should also be considerate about taking their shoes off.
Occasionally, disputes can get out of hand. In 2021, the FAA reported proposing over $1 million in penalties against passengers for alleged unruly behavior in the first nine months of the year.
It should be noted that that was a COVID-19 year and 2,867 of the 3,889 reports the FAA received were related to passengers refusing to comply with the federal facemask mandate.
Unruly passengers can be fined up to $250,000 and face up to 20 years in prison. When flying in the United Kingdom, passengers with acts of drunkness can be fined $6,600 and get up to two years in prison.
|
Highest FAA proposed fines for disruptive passengers (Jan-Aug 2021) |
|
|---|---|
|
$45,000 |
JetBlue passenger for refusing to stay seated and harassment |
|
$42,000 |
JetBlue passengers violating facemask mandate, harassment, threatening bodily harm, possibly snorting cocaine, more |
|
$32,500: |
Southwest passenger for assaulting passengers |
|
$30,000: |
Frontier passenger for disrupting deplaning procedures, assaulting flight attendants, attempting to go to the flight deck |
Only a small number of flights are diverted (0.32% of US flights in June 2024) and only some of these are because of unruly passengers.
Diverting flights also costs the airline. For example, a disruptive passenger was recently ordered to pay a whopping $98,000 for forcing a Hawaiian Airlines flight.
But even this is likely less than what the incident cost the airline (ThePointsGuy suggested it could have cost Hawaiian as much as $150,000).
Unruly passengers may not only be required to pay a fine for the infringement but also compensation to the airline for at least part of its cost. A recent Australian man was recently ordered to not only pay the federal fine, but also compensate the airline for the fuel that it had to dump to make the emergency landing.
He was ordered to pay AUD $8630 ($5,840 USD) in fuel costs and fined AUD $9000 ($6,090 USD).
