What Do You Hate Most About Flying?

Our new travel survey raises the question: Are modern airlines responsible for an increase in bad mannered behaviour amongst passengers or are travellers just getting more rude?

Inconsiderate fellow airline passengers reclining their seats is the number one pet hate amongst UK airline passengers. This is according to a new survey of more than 4000 travellers undertaken by www.thetravelmagazine.net in conjunction with www.whichbudget.com.

In fact, the overwhelming causes of dissatisfaction when flying, relate largely to the behaviour of fellow passengers. A whopping 24% of respondents hate it when the person in front reclines their seat. Of these 21% of passengers complained about people in the row in front reclining their seats before they had a chance to finish their lunch/dinner, which forced them to stow their tray before they were ready.

There was a general consensus that a reclined seat does allow for more comfort for the passenger in it. However, many respondents felt strongly that, as there was precious little room to manoeuvre, a reclined seat made it almost impossible to enjoy any semblance of comfort and others should be sensitive to this. Conversely, other travellers, though agreeing with their peers about the lack of space issues, felt just as strongly that since they paid for the seat they were entitled to recline as they wish, despite the fact that pull down trays impinge on the people on the seat behind.

A further 25% of respondents, in total, cited a variety of fellow travellers’ bad habits. These ranged from having their space invaded by a fellow passenger’s foot or elbow through to having the back of their seat constantly kicked or pushed forward.

Sharron Livingston from www.thetravelmagazine.net said: “Flying in economy can be stressful. For some unfortunate passengers, however, the experience can be awful especially if, for example, the person sitting in front reclines early on in the flight, or the passenger in the window seat constantly wants to get up. Equally, stress levels may rise if the person behind is kicking their chair when all they want is a snooze. Better designed inflight seating would solve the problem. But until then I think travellers are crying out for some good old fashioned manners during flights – otherwise we could risk an increase in air rage.

In all, 4028 people responded to the question: “What do you most hate most about flying?” Many took the opportunity to get some deeply-felt complaints off their chests, reeling off a whole menu of grievances, from lack of leg room to stale air-conditioning and popping ears.

There were also complaints which related to onboard service – for example, when the steward(ess) offers you chicken or fish but then tells you that they have run out of your choice (5%). Some were frustrated when their headsets didn’t work (4%) and others were disgruntled that the steward(ess) was grumpy (3%).

There were also complaints about the airport experience: long check-in queues (2%) and inconsistent application of security rules (2%) that left some travellers exasperated.

What do you hate MOST about flying:

1. On no frills short haul flights, when the person in front reclines their seat leaving you no room to move  24%
    
2. On long haul flights when the person in front reclines their seat before you have had a chance to stop eating. 21%
    
3. When the person behind constantly kicks or pushes your chair  9%
    
4. When seated on an aisle seat, the person in the window constantly gets up. 8%
    
5. When the person sitting next to you invades your space with their foot or elbow. 7%
    
6. The hostess runs out of your choice of food when she gets to you 5%
    
7. When in-flight entertainment doesn’t work i.e. headphones are broken 4%
    
8. When you ask for service the stewardess is grumpy 3%
    
9. The bad habits of the person sitting next to you like nose picking, or toe nail cutting 3%
    
10. Obstructed view of the overhead TV due to a bad angle 3%
     
11. Having to check-in two hours before take off making travel such a long process 2%
     
12. The on-board air conditioning or stale air 2%
     
13. Long queues at check-in. 2%
     
14. Inconsistent application of the security rules 2%
     
15. Ears popping 2%
     
16. Kids screaming continually on a plane, kicking the back of your seat and when you mildly complain get a tirade of abuse from the parents. 1%
     
17. When people take their shoes off and their feet stink 1%
     
18. When the lights are turned on mid-way on a long haul flight waking everyone up 1%
     
19. When someone waiting for the loo leans on your headrest 1%
     

28 March 2008