One need look no further than the public reaction to slide-jumping JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater to see just how many people sympathize with his reaction to a customer who allegedly cursed him out and hit him with a carry-on. So it brings up the question — have we forgotten how to behave in a civilized manner when it comes to traveling?
Travel journalist Chris Elliott recently polled his readers and found that around 70% of them believe that travelers now behave worse than they had previously. Only around 2% said that travelers’ behavior had actually improved.
To back up his poll, Elliott points out five ways in which travelers have let their manners slip in recent years. Basically it comes down to:
*Travelers treat their destinations with a sense of “I’m on vacation so I can do what I want” entitlement;
*They either smell bad or like a walking perfume/cologne sample;
*They dress like a depressed George Costanza when they travel;
*They’re ill-prepared and ill-informed and “act as if they’re still at home”;
*They let their offspring run wild like the world is their playground.
Do you agree with his conclusions? And what role, if any, has the travel industry — specifically the airline industry — played in allowing our behavior to sink to such levels?
Oh no, you didn’t! 5 ways travelers have lost their manners [Chicago Tribune]
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That’s the population in general.
Yes, I agree.
The airlines have fostered this by turning themselves in to the Wal-Mart of the skies….cater to the lowest price marketplace and you get this kind of behavior.
Hey there is nothing wrong with looking like George Costanza. If I saw a look a-like it would definitely brighten up my day.
I was on a flight a while back and I requested exit row seating so I would have more leg room. When I got to my seat the girl next to me made a disappointed comment, something like “Oh, I was going to lay down and sleep during the flight.” I told her that I had purchased the ticket and that exit row seating was meant for people who would remain awake and alert during the flight, and that if she wanted to sleep she should have paid for 3 seats instead of one (the other one was empty). She didn’t say anything more and I thought that that was it. I had to use the lavatory during the flight and when I returned (probably less than 5 minutes later) everything I had left on my seat was on the floor and the girl was sprawled out on all 3 seats with her eyes shut. I knew she wasn’t sleeping and a part of me wanted to wake her up but the better part of me decided to call a flight attendant instead. I was just about to do so too when a couple offered to have me sit next to them in another unused seat. I decided not to make a scene, gathered my belongings, and took the seat, even though it had less leg room. I am thankful for their kindness but I still sometimes regret not calling the flight attendant over instead.
There’s part of the problem: no one wants to make a scene so people with an overblown sense of entitlement always get their way. And you were right not to make a scene — you probably would’ve been thrown off the plane and arrested.
How old was this ‘girl’? If anyone moved my stuff so she could sleep in my seat there’d be a problem.
I would have yanked her up by her hair or sat on her feet, whichever end presented.
First, she probably felt resentment for the speech you gave her about personal responsibility. Simply taking your seat might have avoided that. However, she was way more out of line taking your seat when your left. That said, you should have said something to her, or at least notified a flight attendant, who would have just been doing her job to move the girl. Now this girl thinks she can continue to get her way just by taking first action and being an inconsiderate dumbass.
I would definitely not have done what Not Given says he would have done, which is juvenile at best and criminal at worst. Not that internet tough-guy would have done either of those (except in his head), but rudeness and stupidity does not condone assault.
there should be a standard flier code of conduct for behavior to ensure the flight goes as smoothly as they can
flying is a privilge, not a right, and customers/staff should treat each other with respect due for a human being.
Business customer service has lost all politeness and reasonable accomadation for customers and we KNOW THIS! Only way to get what we deserve and be treated fairly nowadays is to push. Business coldness has changed America for the worse.
Airlines treat passengers like garbage and keep adding fees and people keep flying. Money talks and until people are willing to take their business elsewhere nothing will change. People pay a cattle fare, get treated like cattle, act like cattle, and then are surprised when the airline loses their luggage.
I dread getting on an airplane anymore in the fear that it will be a DC 10 and people’s kids will run amok in my lap. I also dread that someone will put their seat back in my lap. I have RLS and usually end up pissing them off by moving my legs around a lot. And, I am highly allergic to perfume and need to carry an allergy mask on the plain. It’s awful.
People in general don’t have manners anywhere any more.
Yes. Just yes.
/Hotel Front Desk Manager.
I write this comment sitting in a hotel in San Diego after having spent the day flying.
I’ve never flown Southwest before, and I was worried about the experience. For the most part, it wasn’t too bad. Heck, on one leg of our flight, the flight attendant stayed in the empty aisle seat next to us and kept people from sitting in it..she even told another passenger that the seat was taken! Honestly, we did nothing to deserve that, except that… we were nice to the lady,
I don’t get why people bitch about flying. You know it sucks. You know the airlines treat you like garbage. Learn to work around it. No point in getting upset; you can’t change anything. (Not defeatist – realist.)
Case in point, today, we were waiting for our connection when one of the employees announced a gate change. Okay, no biggie. Get to the new gate, mill around for 10 minutes…and another gate change announcement. Back to the original gate! So we trudge back..and still no jet in sight. Finally, we’re told the plane will be about 30 minutes late. Fortunately, it was to our final destination so no worries about missed connections.
Or airport security. You KNOW security is tight. Take off your metal belt buckle. Put your change in your purse. Take out your laptop. Take off your shoes. 3-1-1! I mean, really. It’s not that hard.
Yes it sucks, but taking Amtrak cross country would suck even more.
I wrote a Letter to the Editor in college about rude people in computer labs. I was flamed for being uptight and a prude who couldn’t get a date. Of course, none of those things were true; I was just a polite person it a very rude world.
Reading the comments to this post, I’d say that YES, there is little tolerance for strangers, or sometimes even our own families and friends. What I have witnessed in my travels and day-to-day living in how people behave towards each other has been truly heartbreaking. While being mistreated/attacked at airports, security checks, retails stores, driving by some surely/snarky people etc could account for some of the retaliating-type-behavior it doesn’t really begin to explain the constant “venting” and/or rudeness we all have experienced or indulged in. Have we lost our ability to cope? Is this aberration only occurring North America? What is happening to our culture? =:-0
@Chris Morran: Bless you for saying “So it brings up the question…” as opposed to the (very incorrect) “begs the question.” You are the only person I’ve seen get it right in the last few years.
Thank you
Grammar Nazi
For the entitled few this is normal, But as the depression grows the level of intensity grows to abnormal levels more people are believing that if they have to pay the prices that are offered they too should be entitled to more than a ticket on an airplane. Also the airlines are partly to blame for this attitude due to their lack of interest in passengers and of their wellbeing. So the blame is on both sides of the mirror.
I sigh every time a woman holds up the line at TSA to remove multiple bracelets, rings, earrings, metal studded belts, shoes or boots with metal etc etc etc. Seriously – if you want to look like queen of the trailer park and wear a cheap ring ordered off TV on every finger as well as every other bit of jewelery you own fine – but are you really so stupid that you need to wear it on a plane trip? If you can’t leave it at home can’t it go in the carry on?
I’ve worked for several hotels and I have stories of my own and stories I’ve heard of people. Travelers really do lose their MINDS and their manners when not at home. It’s disgusting.
Had to deal with an entitled older couple from Dallas that were seated behind me and were in the final boarding group. They decided that since they boarded last, it would be OK to move my girlfriend’s reasonably-sized carryon four or five rows away to a different overhead storage bin so that their enormously oversized carryon could be closer to their seats. Being polite didn’t help me, the flight attendant didn’t care, and I had to deal with the old bitch making snide little comments about luggage behind me for the entire flight. I’ve never been more angry at a senior citizen.
I felt better about the whole thing later when we were approaching DC and she said “OH WOW, LOOK IT’S THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL” at the Jefferson Monument. I guess she never looked at the back of a penny.