I have written earlier about how people seem to forget the rules of civilised behaviour while at the airport. It’s almost as if the airport is a portal between two places, where anything and everything goes: Drinking alcohol for breakfast; wearing your PJs out in public; stealing snacks from the lounge etc.
But I have realised over the years that truly anti-social behaviour really kicks in when people are in the air. That’s when all inhibitions seems to disappear and it’s a free-for-all in the skies. It’s almost as if for some folks their inflight experience is less than perfect if they can’t make a perfect nuisance of themselves.
And how do they do that? Well, let me count the ways.
For me, the most annoying thing is when fellow passengers start watching a video, listening to music, or playing a video game on the flight without using their headphones. This happens with a sickening regularity on almost every single flight I take. No amount of staring or looking askance makes a difference. Asking the airline crew to intervene only grants a temporary respite. The moment a decent interval has passed, the noise resumes. Honestly, what is up with these people? Do they not have earphones? Or have they gone missing along with their civic sense?
Then, there is the species who boards the plane and immediately reclines their seat as far as it will go. It’s no point asking them to raise it for take-off (as mandated by the safety manual). And good luck trying to open your tray table when the crew comes to serve your meal. There simply will be no space to do so. And don’t even start me on those people sitting behind you who can’t seem to get up from their seats without pulling your seat back down without so much as a by your leave.
{{/usCountry}}Then, there is the species who boards the plane and immediately reclines their seat as far as it will go. It’s no point asking them to raise it for take-off (as mandated by the safety manual). And good luck trying to open your tray table when the crew comes to serve your meal. There simply will be no space to do so. And don’t even start me on those people sitting behind you who can’t seem to get up from their seats without pulling your seat back down without so much as a by your leave.
{{/usCountry}}All of us make allowances for children and babies on flights, who cry incessantly because we realise that flying can be a traumatic experience for them. But what I find unforgivable is parents who allow their kids to run amok on flights without making the slightest effort to control them. The kids will be racing up and down the aisle, annoying both crew and passengers and the parents will be busy watching their videos on their phones (without headphones, of course), ignoring their children’s antics completely. What is up with that?
But a special hell awaits those people who are travelling in a big group and think nothing of setting up an impromptu party in the cabin on night flights when everyone else is trying very hard to sleep. Just as service is over, the lights have been lowered, and everyone else is ready to catch a few winks, these nocturnal beasts come alive — and make life miserable for the rest of us. Truly, the stuff of nightmares — if we’d ever get to nod off, that is!
From HT Brunch, August 30, 2025
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