Airplane etiquette survey: Seat-kicking is worst behavior

(Josh Noel/Chicago Tribune/MCT)

Credit: Kelly Yamanouchi

Credit: Kelly Yamanouchi

(Josh Noel/Chicago Tribune/MCT)

Since there's nothing worse than being stuck with annoying seatmates for hours on a long flight, Expedia.com in an annual survey asks travelers to call out the most aggravating behaviors in the air.

The biggest violator is the "Rear Seat Kicker," according to the survey of 1,005 people commissioned by Expedia and conducted by market research firm GfK. The results released Tuesday showed that 64 percent of respondents named seat kickers as annoying.

In second place was "Inattentive Parents," selected by 59 percent of respondents. Survey respondents were allowed to choose more than one answer. It's defined as "parents who have no control over, or pay no attention to, their crying, whining or misbehaved children."

"The Aromatic Passenger"at 55 percent is ranked as third-most annoying, including "those with poor hygiene or those wearing excessive cologne or perfume."

Among the others: The Audio Insensitive, The Boozer, Chatty Cathy, The Queue Jumper, Seat-Back Guy, The Armrest Hog, Pungent Foodies, The Undresser, The Amorous, The Mad Bladder and The Single and Ready to Mingle, according to Expedia.

In other survey results, 65 percent or survey respondents said they dread sitting next to someone who talks too much, while 35 percent say they would pay extra to sit in a "quiet zone" if it were offered.

About 15 percent of survey respondents said they never turn their phone to "airplane mode" when instructed.

To recline or not to recline?

A majority of survey respondents -- 53 percent -- said they recline their seats on flights.

A quarter of those responding to the survey said they would recline their seat "for retaliatory reasons," if a passenger sitting behind them were aggressive or rude.

On a related note, only 1 in 10 respondents said they would "confront a misbehaving passenger directly." Others would alert a flight attendant, do nothing, shoot video of the behavior with their phones, or shame the passenger on social media.

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