Air rage poses big problem among British passengers

Recent incidents in the tourism industry seem to suggest that air rage may be more common among British passengers than people of other national backgrounds and the number of air rage instances is likely to keep increasing in the near future. The Telegraph quoted a recent survey which concluded that Britons are simply more likely to display signs of air rage, as flights become more stressful and frustrating than ever before and as a public consensus develops about the increasingly inconsiderate and downright rude nature of fellow passengers.

A total of 41 percent of survey respondents indicated that they were frustrated by declining levels of service in the commercial airline industry, while an additional 39 percent noted that modern British culture lacked civility, politeness, and is experiencing increasingly widespread anti-social behaviour. What is even more problematic than these initial findings, is that a staggering 73 percent of British air passengers contend that other travellers have become noticeably ruder over the years and a tenth of all respondents pin part of the blame on low cost carriers. The problem is that many discount airlines follow a policy whereby passengers do not reserve individual seats ahead of time, but can sit wherever they please, on a first-come-first-served basis. This, however, has led to “selfishness” among passengers who scramble like mad to find a suitable seat before a departure.

According to this survey, Britons are especially frustrated by yelling infants, overweight passengers  who take up more than just their own seat and people who display signs of poor personal hygiene.

Thank you to Phil Davies of The Telegraph for the initial report.