I believe we’ve all had a situation where we’ve encountered something annoying while traveling on an airplane. Has someone taken your window seat? Or maybe they were listening to music so loud that you could hear everything? These situations, unfortunately, happen daily, and we all experience them. We decided to conduct a survey to determine how people react to annoying situations (if they do at all) and what annoys them the most.
If you’re planning a trip soon, be sure to check if you’re not one of those annoying people. I think the best way to improve situations / our behavior is through educating ourselves – many of these things are not done intentionally rather because of a lack of awareness.
Most annoying pre-flight pet peeves
As we know, air travel isn’t just about what happens onboard. Before the takeoff, we have to go through security, baggage check, and much more. We decided to ask our group of over 1,000 Americans about this time as well and requested them to rate seven pre-flight problems on a scale of annoyance and perceived frequency.
Are you curious about the results? Let’s behold!
Most of us (78%) are most annoyed when others shamelessly disrupt check-in or security lines, with 35% saying this happens often or very often.
Also high on the list is the traditional culprit of “flight delays or cancellations.” This must be particularly upsetting for Russian passengers abroad after their airline was banned from most EU and US airspace, leaving thousands stranded.
Finally, a big part of Americans’ fear of flying is COVID-19. Thus, 67% of travelers are unhappy with ever-changing travel restrictions and testing requirements (66%), passengers who don’t (properly) wear face masks when required (74%), and those who don’t keep their social distance (70%).
So, any positives?
Most countries around the world have begun to reduce restrictions, and leading scientists say that a less dangerous and disruptive strain of the virus will emerge in the future that won’t disrupt travel as much.
Things you must stop doing during the flight.
Moving on to the main question and part of our survey. We asked about the most annoying in-flight scenes.
As you can see, “passengers who don’t cover their mouths when coughing or sneezing” (76%) came in the first place. This is not all that surprising given today’s pandemic times.
This was followed by “unwanted bodily contact from other passengers” (75%), “passengers who watch movies without headphones” (75%), and “inattentive parents who let their kids run wild” (74%).
The least annoying problem with air travel? “Passengers who applaud when the plane lands” – 58% of Americans indicated so.
So, on your next flight, make sure not to do any of those things to make the journey pleasant for everyone.
The worst things airlines do
Finally, we wanted to focus on another side of the coin. We all know that successful air travel does not depend only on the passengers; in fact, it is mainly a matter of the airline and their behaviors and strategies. That’s why, in the last part of our survey, we asked about the worst airline practices.
What did we find out?
The top-ranked items were: “poor cleanliness and safety on the plane” and “lack of overhead garbage can space near the seating area.” Coronavirus also plays a role here, so airlines may want to tighten security measures.
Interestingly, “poor intercom” (which makes it nearly impossible to understand what the pilot is saying) also ranked fairly high (72%). Perhaps this is something that airlines should look into. In the age of self-driving cars, AI-powered robots, and other cutting-edge technology, it’s hard to believe that planes still use such an outdated communication system.
Do you find any of the results surprising? Make sure to spread the awareness, and enjoy your next flight (even with kids in tow)!
More tips and details about the study are available here, in the original article: https://passport-photo.online/blog/air-travel-pet-peeves/
Bio: Magdalena Sadowska is the Community Manager & Content Writer of Passport Photo Online. With a background in psychology, she is fascinated by how people interact and create their reality. Given a choice of sea or mountains, she chooses both.
