Rowdy Drunk Passenger VS. Nail Care Passenger... Flying Is a Nightmare

Unforgivable Passengers on Airplanes
Greatest Complaints About Drunken Travelers
Acceptance Varies by Gender and Country

"Passengers who are drunk are harder to tolerate than those who groom their nails on the plane."

Which passengers are the hardest to tolerate when boarding a plane? The survey company YouGov Survey provided an answer through an online survey conducted last February.

Drunk passengers are more disliked than those clipping their nails

Among 18 countries, the most intolerable passengers were 'drunk passengers.' More than half of respondents (55%) said they could not tolerate drunk passengers. About 20% said they found them somewhat difficult to tolerate. Combining these, it can be seen that more than 7 out of 10 passengers judged drunk passengers as unacceptable.

Although better than drunk passengers, 'passengers who use media without wearing headphones' were also cited as passengers who are hard to understand. About 31% said they could never tolerate this behavior, and about 28% said they found it somewhat difficult to tolerate. More than half of respondents (29%, 26%) also could not understand passengers who engage in actions such as clipping their nails or combing their hair.

The survey also asked about noise caused by children on board. In terms of sound alone, 'dislike of crying babies (23%)' seemed significant, but many respondents were lenient about this. Rather, more people said they could not tolerate 'noisy children aged 4 and above (51%).'

There were also complaints about 'reclining the seat backward,' which is something passengers often consider during long-haul flights. More than half of respondents (53%) said they could never or somewhat could not tolerate passengers who recline their seats fully. Passengers who recline their seats fully were considered more annoying than those who take off their shoes or socks (51%).

Tolerance for behaviors varies by gender and country

However, these intolerable behaviors on planes showed different patterns depending on gender and country. Regarding drunk passengers, 70% of male respondents said they could not tolerate them, while 81% of female respondents said they could not understand them. Complaints about passengers reclining their seats fully were expressed by 48% of men and 59% of women. On the other hand, noisy children aged 4 and above were cited as difficult passengers regardless of gender (men 51%, women 52%).

The nationalities of respondents in this survey were divided into Europe, North America, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Asia-Pacific, among which the UAE was noted as the country with the highest tolerance for difficult passengers.

While about three-quarters of respondents from Europe (78%), North America (77%), and Asia-Pacific (73%) said they could not tolerate drunk passengers, only about 57% of UAE consumers said they found them difficult to tolerate. UAE respondents were much less likely than global respondents to find fully reclining seats intolerable (Europe 59%, North America 46%, UAE 32%, APAC 53%).

On the other hand, UAE and APAC respondents (both 39%) were more likely to find public displays of affection unpleasant compared to North American respondents at one-quarter (26%) and European respondents at one-fifth (21%).