On solid ground as well as at altitude, it remains difficult to get everyone to adopt proper manners, as demonstrated by a new Booking.com study, unveiled to the press on Wednesday, July 8. Among the reservation site’s respondents, 61% of the French, drawn from 1,000 adults who had taken an international flight in the past twelve months, feel that some travelers exercise a bit too much leeway in the air.
Far ahead of the traditional squabbles about reclining seats, problematic behaviors linked to social media and personal comfort have become the main sources of cabin tension.
Phones, beauty sessions, barefoot passengers…
The golden emblem for the most annoying gesture, cited by 41% of respondents, goes to travelers who lean over their neighbors or get too close to take a photo or film through the window. Next come being unknowingly featured in videos captured and published on social media by a third party (38%), tied with the bad habit of watching films or listening to music without headphones (38%).
Meals with strong smells or mess brought by other passengers (34%) and those who remain barefoot during the flight (27%) also appear on this worst-of list. French travelers are also irritated by those who film content for social networks or TikTok during the journey (24%), those who do their manicure (polish, cut, or file nails) aboard (17%), or those who pace up and down the aisle to meet their daily step count or fitness goal (16%), who perform a full facial, hair, or beauty routine in public (13%), or who use dental floss in front of everyone (13%).
Des bonnes manières qui se perdent…
Surprisingly, some passengers tend to treat the plane as an extension of their home. Nearly three in ten travelers acknowledge behaving “exactly like at home” once seated on the aircraft. Meanwhile, 85% of those surveyed believe that a plane remains a form of public transport where everyone should respect others. “The French like to think they travel with a certain notion of elegance… In reality, nationality matters less than education: the best manners have no passport, they simply travel in first class… of savoir‑vivre. Take note!, explains Jérémy Côme in Booking.com’s press release.
The etiquette expert reiterates in a guide that the rules of courtesy have not changed: “The cabin is neither a family sofa, nor a gym, nor an annex of one’s bedroom (…) Before every flight, perhaps one should ask oneself just one question: if all 180 passengers behaved exactly like me, would the journey be more pleasant or more burdensome?” Facing these rudenesses, the French still favor dialogue: 42% of them prefer to report it politely, while 19% settle for a disapproving glance or a sigh. All simply wish that airlines strengthen their rules.
