Noisy passengers top list of airplane annoyances, survey finds

Close quarters on planes often lead to tension, but a new survey reveals a clear consensus on who is to blame for bad behavior: fellow passengers. The top annoyance stems from travelers using personal devices for calls or entertainment without headphones, according to a poll of 2,500 U.S. adults by The Points Guy (TPG) and YouGov.

Nearly half of those surveyed, 40%, think airlines should prohibit phone and video calls during flights. A significant 27% identified this noise as the most irritating passenger conduct. "It happens in the preboarding areas, too, where people sit on their phones watching videos on full blast," said TPG managing editor Becky Blaine. "And it can't be pinpointed by age demographic. You see kids on iPads, all the way up to older people on cellphones."

Airlines are taking note. United Airlines recently updated its policy to mandate headphones for all audio from personal electronic devices, including social media feeds. The airline reserves the right to remove and ban passengers who violate this rule.

The contentious issue of reclining seats also surfaced in the poll. A majority, 51%, of adults find reclining acceptable, with only 10% stating it is never acceptable. TPG suggests middle-seat passengers deserve both armrests due to cramped conditions, but survey respondents disagreed, with only 11% agreeing the middle-seat occupant automatically claims both.

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It happens in the preboarding areas, too, where people sit on their phones watching videos on full blast. And it can't be pinpointed by age demographic. You see kids on iPads, all the way up to older people on cellphones.