It was only last month but it feels like forever. I was on a flight back to JAX and my seatmate started with some disturbing behavior. It was a short hop from Atlanta, and I was working on my laptop but was interrupted by the sound of metal clicks. I looked over and noticed that he had put the tray table down and was trimming his fingernails into a little pile on the table.
I watched in disgust as he then proceeded to brush the little pile onto the ground and seat. He started on to the next hand before I politely asked if he would mind trimming his nails later. He huffed and looked at me like I was the rude one before turning away! However, he did oblige before ignoring me the rest of the flight. This interaction got me thinking about airline travel and how people carry themselves in planes and airports. Was the type of behavior that my seatmate engaged in “normal” on flights?
Has Travel Decorum Gone Out the Window?
It’s difficult to know for certain but it seems unlikely. On many trips I notice travelers helping one another whether it is lifting a suitcase into an overhead bin or helping a parent put a bag on their gate-checked stroller (Someone did this for me on our last trip.). However, the rude or gross passengers get the spotlight.
I have to believe that one reason for this is that since almost everyone is in possession of a smartphone the odds of recording strange behavior are much higher than they have ever been. Stories and social media capture bizarre conduct from travelers and this is what captures the public’s attention. The Instagram account “Passenger Shaming” memorializes these culprits to it’s more than 1.3 million followers. Some of the more bothersome videos from the site that led to stories from mainstream media include the following.
- A person who was barefoot in a plane and picking dead skin off the bottom of their feet.
- A traveler in first class who decided to get way too comfy across two first class seats.
- A passenger rubbing his bare feet all over an armrest.
- The infamous barefooted touchscreen swiper.
Is Plane Travel a Case of “the Good ‘Ol Days”?
Remember the golden days of plane travel (although as of right now that just feels like anytime prior to COVID-19)? I think I may be too young to reminisce on the supposed “Golden Age of Flying”, but I have seen the pictures, videos and movies of travelers who were dressed to the nines for their trips. Suits and classy dress appeared to be the norm and going on a flight was a big deal.
Perhaps this mindset changed as prices came down and flying became commoditized or viewed as just a way to get from point A to point B rather than a premium experience. On the flip side was plane travel really that much better in the good ‘ol days? Smoking was permitted, and I do remember that being awful. Travel was prohibitively expensive for most people and there were less entertainment options. Also, turbulence and crashes were bigger concerns. Maybe my idealized view of plane travel of past days is a case of remembering things more fondly than I should.
What Does the Future Hold?
We are only a few weeks into the explosion of COVID-19 and everything seems to have experienced a paradigm shift. Business models have changed on the fly and interactions between people have totally adjusted. People are also much more concerned about hygiene and cleanliness than I have ever seen before. I expect to see this to carryover to future passenger behavior in a dramatic fashion. I assume masks will become more common, people will wipe down or sanitize their seats, hand sanitizer will be widely used…and fewer people will clip their nails or use feet on the touchscreens.
What do you think? Did plane travel used to be better? Were passengers more polite? Will this cause people to behave better in the future? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
Murikans are (actually) getting dumber. And the white trash are multiplying like the cockroaches they are.
The movie “Idiocracy” is a dystopian primer for what is to come.
Haha. I hope you’re wrong Keith!
Have you flown recently?? I did, twice in the last 5 days. Flying weekly, still, with no changes to my plants.
Not much has changed *NOW*
Sure, some more people are wearing masks – but if you’re sick, it’s polite.
Otherwise, uh, yeah, in 6 months, nothing will be different.
Nothing is really different *RIGHT NOW* if you are out there traveling and not sitting behind a computer.
I wish and hope you are right about a New Dawn of hygiene if not civility in air travel. I have some very strong doubts about though particularly over the long term. We all know that the attention of span of most people nowadays is a maximum of three or four news cycles. Once this pandemic is over, I hope the lessons learned will linger longer than it takes for a return flight from LA to Sydney but I suspect it won’t. By the way, as someone who has very strong recollections of the “golden age” of air travel, yes it was not ALL lollipops and rainbows (the smoking thing was bad but in those days so many people smoked even during meals in restaurants and diners) and yes we were stuck with watching whatever movie was being shown on the overhead screens, but you had room to recline, the stewardesses were friendly as all get go (even in economy!!!), and people did not behave like so many barbarians banging the seat in front of them, picking or clipping their toe nails and any of the other disgusting habits so many people seem to think are acceptable. Given a choice, I would go back to the 70’s air travel ANYTIME, 100%. Keep calm on carry on everyone – tutto andra bene!!!
Thanks for sharing Andrew! It’s great to hear the perspective from someone that was able to travel during the “golden age” and can confirm that it lived up to it’s moniker.
There’s definitely a shift in culture as air travel has evolved. It’s more common place now and much less special than it used to be. I still love the experience myself and always take an available upgrade as I do genuinely enjoy the hot towel, the pre-departure beverage, and the meal service. It’s no where near as good as it used to be and I’ve seen it decline over the years, but I still enjoy it when I can.
As for people – really that’s the biggest shift. A couple of weeks ago as we were heading home as this was all happening, we went through Heathrow and while in the British Airways Galleries Business Class Lounge, there was someone sitting next to us who was wearing a casual shirt and jeans (certainly appropriate, particularly for a Saturday), but open-toe sandals. The beach style “flip flops”. And of course he had to cross his legs ensuring everyone could see. Call me a prude but that is just not decent for a place like that. Or any place in public aside from a beach.
Then we have that video of the person in DL scrolling through their entertainment offerings with their feet! Remember that? Makes you never want to touch that again.
Or the people who insist that is totally ‘ok’ to have a phone conversation on speakerphone so that everyone else hears then gets upset when people stare because “well how dare they deny ME what “I” want to do??” These are the same people who decide that it’s totally ok to blast videos from their phone anywhere in public having zero respect for anyone around them. After all they do not even notice anyone else it seems.
Then we get the person sitting next to you trimming nails and just brushing them on to the floor. That’s awful. But it’s part of the unfortunate culture and times we live in now. I would hope that we can once again have some level of decency. There seems to be a whole generation that has no level of concern about anyone around them other than themselves. Look at the hoarding that has been happening around the country. Look at the people flat out refusing to social distance. It’s connecting a lot of dots there, but think about it. It’s the ME ME ME culture.
As a side note, one thing I am hoping for as a change is that things (rental cars, planes [seats], and airports) will actually be cleaned for a change. How many times have we opened the tray table to find crumbs or coffee stains from the previous flight? I hope that there will be a greater emphasis on cleanliness now. Fingers crossed.
Chad, I really appreciate all the insight and thoughts on this article. Let’s hope we see some positive shifts in the future not just from a travel perspective but in society as a whole.
Yes, very much times have changed the decorum on board the aircraft! I can remember boarding a Continental flight in 1978 and noticed a splay of peanuts on the carpet. I pointed it out to the stewardess and she was horrified and immediately helped to clean it up. On a United flight during the same era, the steward dropped my tray table and there was a stain of either wine or juice on the surface. He hollered that it “was filthy” and immediately got a hot towel and wiped it down. Today, the attitude is: “just live with it”, but years later I still remember those attentions to cleanliness that are no longer the norm.
I actually find it interesting that the airline marketing people are telling us that they are taking “extra” measures to insure the planes are clean. In reality, they should be doing this ALL the time to make sure that people don’t get sick even without the Covid-19 virus.
Ken those are great examples of how much the “service” has changed on flights. Also funny how the “extra” cleaning measures seem like they should be standard. Maybe the airlines will implement those on all future flights.