Sitting next to someone with bad plane etiquette can easily ruin your flight, and the US state you’re flying from can determine this.
From the seat in front of you reclined on your lap to a passenger hogging both armrests – and not in the middle seat – there are a range of behaviors that can annoy your fellow passengers. In a recent report from Solitaire Bliss, 78 percent of 2,002 Americans surveyed in April said they felt air travel etiquette had gotten worse in recent years.
Participants cited the most common reckless behaviors in airports and on planes: people reclining seats without asking, loudly using phones in the terminal, and placing suitcases on terminal seats.
The survey asked what bad behavior people have observed and whether they are guilty of committing these crimes while traveling by air – and many admitted they were. With respondents coming from every state in the US, the report determined the states with the most polite and inconsiderate flyers. (Yes, these are general statements, and both good and bad travelers are everywhere.) States were ranked on a scale of 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating a greater tendency among travelers from that state to have bad Air travel etiquette.
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“As the summer travel season approaches, we will see an influx of stories on the media circuit about bad passenger behavior and airline problems,” Assaf Cohen, founder of Solitaire Bliss, said in an emailed statement to USA TODAY . “Along with common behaviors such as occupying a seat in the terminal using a suitcase or reclining a seat without asking, one in eight passengers reports seeing a physical altercation.”
Read below to find the top five states with the best and worst travel etiquettes.
States with the Worst Travel Etiquette
5. Georgia
4. Texas
3. Virginia
2.Illinois
1. Iowa
With the highest score of 94.29, Iowa survey respondents were most guilty of poor travel etiquette, such as placing bags on terminal seats and fueling the plane. Virginia’s top bad habits when flying included putting luggage on terminal seats, not putting phones in airplane mode, and reclining seats without asking. In Illinois, one in four residents admitted that they ignore the seat belt sign when flying.
States with the best travel etiquette
5. Kansas
4. Ohio
3. Florida
2. Wisconsin
1.Arkansas
Call it “Southern hospitality” or “good in the Midwest,” but the states that reported the least rude air travel behaviors were throughout the South and Midwest. Arkansas stole the top spot for having the most polite passengers — or at least those who didn’t admit their offenses.
Kathleen Wong is a travel reporter for USA TODAY and lives in Hawaii. You can reach her at kwong@usatoday.com.
