How to avoid becoming the worst passenger on your next flight
While basic flying etiquette is simple common sense to most, there are those out there who set one foot in the airport and become the worst version of themselves.
It can be hard to have the patience for bad manners, but when you’re stuck up in the clouds with them with no room to run, it can be almost as difficult not to slip up yourself - be that launching your own chair back into the kneecaps of the person behind to avoid the chair suddenly in your own face, or even battling it out for the use of a shared armrest.
To help prepare hopeful travellers - to both stop the problem passengers and avoid becoming one yourself - social affairs commentator and former academic Gary Martin shared his 10 travel passenger pet peeves with ABC Radio Perth’s Stan Shaw.
10. Trouble at the gate
In last place, Gary placed the individuals who like to spend their time bothering airport staff in the hours (and hours) before it’s time to board their flight, telling Stan that “these poor souls somehow think that if they actually get on that plane quicker the plane is going to get them to their destination faster.”
9. Loud people
This one speaks for itself. Whether you’re stuck in the terminal with them, or across the plane aisle from them, obnoxiously loud individuals can be very, very hard to deal with.
8. Smelly seatmates
Airports and aeroplanes are already busy, loud, and overwhelming for the people moving through them, and senses can be thrown into overdrive. So the last thing many want to endure is sitting next to, or near, someone who sets their nostrils flaring. From body odour to abusing the perfume testers in duty free, these passengers can be hard to stomach.
7. Entitled flyers
Gary’s explanation for these self-important travellers was short and to the point, “they are entitled, using the call button every 10 minutes” and likely keeping staff from others who could benefit from their help.
6. Luggage switcher
Overheard bins are nothing short of a nightmare when flying - either domestically or internationally - and it can feel like a victory to get your things in the one above your own seat. But for some, that means nothing, with luggage switchers all too eager to swap things about to get the spot they want, regardless of who’s already laid claim to the bin.
5. Overhead hoarder
Following on from the switchers come the hogs - those who see absolutely nothing wrong with taking up the entire overhead bin for the ‘carry-on’ that looks suspiciously like an entire shell suitcase, never mind the two to three other people occupying their row.
4. Time troublers
Gary explained these trouble travellers to be someone "who somehow can't distinguish between boarding time and departure time of an aircraft, and they're two very different things” thereby holding things up for everybody else.
The counterpart to the latecomer is the early bird, and as Gary put it, “these are people that get off the plane, or try to get off the plane, as soon as it's landed. The seatbelt signs go off and everybody gets up and tries to push their way out of the plane."
3. Armrest warriors
Gary had some simple rules for dealing with the limited armrests in each row, and avoiding the ire of your neighbours.
“The person in the middle should get both armrests,” he explained, “because the other people get the sides.
"But that's not the case for most travellers. There's a squabble that goes on over the armrests."
He also noted that these passengers had a habit of taking up more than their fair share of room in general, from simply leaning over unnecessarily, or in worst case scenarios, “they might fall asleep on your shoulder.”
2. Kickers
One kick is an accident, and two is excusable, but relentless kicks to the back of your seat can fray your nerves in record time, and have a scowl on your face all the way from take off to landing.
1. Recliners
Coming in at the top of Gary’s list is everyone’s sky high nemesis: the recliner.
It’s bad enough to be “pinned by a tray table” at the best of times in the air, but as Gary pointed out, that’s a situation that can quickly become miserable for everyone, as once “the person in front of you does it, you feel compelled to do it too.
"Then it just dominoes down the aisle."
Images: Getty