Etiquette up in the air

Purnima Sharma

Recalling the last time he flew home from the US makes Dhruv Amarnath see red. “It was the second leg of my long journey. Exhausted, I was looking forward to sleeping through the flight,” says the 23-year-old tech student. But soon after take-off and meal time, as he settled down for a nap, the person sitting behind him decided to get frisky. “He just didn’t let me sleep because he wanted to change his position or get up every few minutes (or so it seemed to me). In doing so, he would pull my seat back to haul himself up. It was just so annoying.” “Whatever happened to basic etiquette? I am sure he knew he was disturbing me, yet he wasn’t bothered?” Ask any frequent flyer, and s/he would talk about the growing number of “such irritants” in air travel.

In its 20-year passenger forecast, an IATA report says that India is expected to have 478 million air passengers by 2036. It is the third fastest growing market with an expected addition of 337 million new passengers by that year.  From the time when air travel was associated only with select few, it is fast becoming the preferred mode of travel for everyone.

As Charlotte Chopra, an avid traveller, says, “It’s good that air traffic is increasing but what is not right is the “brashness and flouting-of-rules attitude that many travellers are bringing into it. Many feel that buying an air ticket gives them the licence to act like the aircraft and its crew are their property”. The entrepreneur in the hospitality business gives the example of something she witnessed recently. She says an air hostess was being “unnecessarily bullied by a fellow passenger just because she couldn’t comply with his demand for an extra non-vegetarian meal. She politely apologised and told him that they’d run out of this option but he could have another vegetarian meal, but this man wouldn’t hear of it. His behaviour showed lack of basic manners.” Irritants of different hues have become an everyday affair on flights. Remember the incident that left actress Zaira Wasim allegedly shaken when a man sitting behind her not just rested his feet on her armrest but also dared to run his foot over her shoulder, neck and back. 

Parag Agrawal, founder of JanaJal, would be happy to see those rushing towards the exit or switching on their phones even before the plane has halted being sternly ticked off. “There should also be a ceiling on how much alcohol is served especially on international flights”, he says remembering the time when two hefty persons sitting close to him guzzled beer and talked loudly through the night even though the lights had been dimmed. Furious with such disregard for fellow passengers and their polite requests, Parag complained to the airport police upon disembarking.

“But these guys were so sozzled, and arrogant to boot that there was no sense of guilt or remorse as they were being led away,” he recalls. 

 Charlotte Chopra, too, was once horrified when, while taking a snooze, something fell on her head. “A woman opening the overhead compartment above me lost balance and her bag landed on my head. She  apologised and the air hostess quickly put ice to ease the pain but what if I’d been badly hurt? She should have been careful or waited for me to get up,” she says.  

There was a time when Anchit Doegar enjoyed flying but now it’s something that often leaves him irritated with the way flyers behave. 

“I don’t understand why can’t people ensure that they don’t expose their smelly feet and socks to others around? Why must they hog both armrests and not leave a clean washroom for the next user? The list could go on and on,” says the founder of SpinMonkey Cycling Tours. Ask him for a solution to this and he says, “Together with the ‘what to do in an emergency situation’ demonstrations, these ‘irritants’ should be highlighted as well so that slowly people start becoming conscious of what they are doing,” he reiterates.

It is because of such behaviour of our flyers that an air hostess with an international airline had confessed sometime back that Indian passengers can often be the worst behaved. While it triggered a debate on social media, “this statement is not far from the truth”, concedes Rekha Raj. The general manager in an automobile company, Rekha is amused every time she flies in and out of Singapore. “There, our fellow countrymen follow rules to the tee but the moment a flight lands here, it’s as if mayhem has been let loose. If we behave the same way we do when abroad, we’d be such a different nation. Truly swachch,” she asserts.

Consultant psychiatrist, Sanjay Chugh, doesn’t see this happening anytime soon. This, he says, is because people in our country enjoy breaking rules. Not following the rules has become part of our psyche. “Just because someone is travelling by air, doesn’t make him/her fall in line immediately,” he says adding that airline etiquette can be seen on international airlines only. Giving the example of the use of phones on flights, he says, “Now they may be allowed but even when they weren’t, how often would we suddenly hear the phone ring even when it was supposed to have been switched off? We dare not do such stuff on an international flight for the fear of being penalised,” he adds.

What makes fellow flyers furious?

• Grabbing wheelchairs for early check-in and to avoid queues (even by some able-bodied). 
• Asking for free upgrades.
• Booking the bassinet seat for extra leg room.
• Carrying extra weight and then insisting it be allowed.
• Hogging the overhead baggage compartment space.
• Using the phone without switching on the ‘flight mode.’
• Economy class passengers trying to use the washrooms in business class/first class.
• Taking pictures of the air hostess without permission.
• Leaving the washroom in a mess.
• Drinking too much alcohol, and then creating a scene.
• Carrying off pillow and bedsheets. 

COMMON COURTESIES FOR A COMFORTABLE CRUISE

Flying for most people can be exhausting, even if you are a frequent flyer, says Rajeev Kale, travel expert. “People must realise that travelling can be made comfortable not just for one’s own self but even for others.” And this, he suggests, can be done by following some basic courtesies: