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Look, flying is stressful. You have to deal with people screaming at you at the drop-off area to move along, go through security, find your gate, maybe pay $27 for a McDouble, and deal with crowds. So don’t make everything worse by committing one of the most annoying activities on planes. 

The most annoying activities you can do on planes 

The people have spoken by voting on the most annoying things that people do on planes. Forget passing a lot of gas or reclining your seat. People are frustrated by other disrespectful acts on airplanes. 

Airline passengers can’t stand when parents allow their children to play in the aisle. Roughly 80% of Americans declared that this is the worst! 

I get it, once you finally take your seat and get going, you want to keep to yourself and relax. But children are loud and can bump into you. Plus, they block airplane attendants from doing their jobs. 

The second most annoying thing you can do on planes is get drunk. No one wants to be around a belligerent person who is loud, smelly, and stumbling around. But I must admit, free alcohol in first class can be hard to resist. Just know your limits and drink responsibly. 

Someone holding alcohol on a plane
Person getting drunk on an airplane | iStock

People also don’t like it when other passengers leave their seats during turbulence, but whatever. Unless they’re falling on you they’re taking their own risks. Let natural selection take its place. 

Plus, people hate it when others listen to a show, movie, or headphones without headphones. Just because you want to hear something it doesn’t mean that the people around you do. They could even be trying to nap. 

When people leave trash in the seatback pocket on a plane, that’s just nasty. The next passenger doesn’t want to touch your germ-covered cans or wrappers. 

Also, don’t take up both armrests. There is an official system, people! The person with a window seat gets one, the person in the middle gets both, and the person with the aisle seat gets one. 

This last annoying thing on airplanes doesn’t make much sense to me. People don’t like it when other passengers don’t pay attention to the safety demonstration, but it has been the same for decades. 

Frequent flyers could have it down. Plus, each seat has a little booklet with safety instructions listed. Let people mind their own business as the airplane prepares for takeoff.

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Staff Writer

Allison Barfield

Allison Barfield joined MotorBiscuit in 2020 and covers all things trucks, SUVs, and Jeeps. Having grown up on a farm in Rock Hill, South Carolina, she’s no stranger to the “Best in Class” truck and SUV debates; people in her hometown were always gathering to help work on vehicles together, and deliberation would naturally arise.

Allison graduated from the University of South Carolina with a degree in Media Arts. She has helped bring awareness to issues Women In Trucking face and has promoted Truckers Against Trafficking, an anti-trafficking NGO.

A fan of creatively dark literature, Allison appreciates the works of Shirley Jackson and Emily Dickenson. She lives in a mountainous area of the country and enjoys off-roading and camping. Her dog, Bruce, often joins her in testing trucks and SUVs for our site.