13 Annoying Airline Passengers You Never Want to Fly With

Buckle up, pack your patience and don’t be one of these types of travelers

different types of passengers on a plane

Amber Day

Perry Santanachote,

AARP

Published February 26, 2025

Jet-setting was once synonymous with glitz and glamour, a luxurious experience that promised both efficiency and adventure. But for many modern travelers, air travel today feels more like a test of endurance than a journey to savor.

“It used to be such a nice experience,” says Michelle da Silva Richmond, a travel writer and the author of Fleeting Moments, a memoir about being a flight attendant for Pan Am in the 1970s. “The change has been gradual, but it doesn’t feel nice to travel anymore, and people don’t know how to handle themselves.”

Cramped seats, higher checked-luggage charges and ever-shrinking legroom have inevitably led to tense cabin confrontations and unruly behaviors. Comfort is scarce. Patience wears thin. “It all adds up to a cocktail of stress and anxiety even before boarding the plane,” says Jodi RR Smith, owner of Mannersmith Etiquette Consulting.

From the battle for overhead bin space to interactions with intoxicated travelers, flight attendants and frequent fliers offer tips for handling sticky situations and avoiding becoming one of these infamous passengers on your next trip.

The gate lice

Gate lice is what the ground crew calls passengers who haunt the area in front of the gate door hoping to board early, explains travel writer Deborah Gaines. “If you’re in Group 2, but they’re in Group 3 or 4, they’re right next to you, hoping to get in earlier somehow,” she says.

Be prepared to check your carry-on before boarding. Gaines suspects many people are trying to board early because they’re anxious that there will be no room left in the overhead bins to stow their bags. However, if you know that you’re in a late boarding group and are concerned about finding space for your carry-on, prepare to gate-check your bag from the get-go.

The imposter

Some fliers are so desperate to skip the boarding line that they resort to faking disabilities or injuries to preboard the plane. “The flights to Florida are often dubbed ‘The Miracle Flights’ because passengers insist on disability preboarding, often with wheelchairs,” says Smith, “but upon landing, they pop up like jack-in-the-boxes and bound off the plane.”

The same behavior occurs at the security line too. “People falsely say that they’re injured to get a wheelchair, because when you have a wheelchair through TSA, it’s usually a faster line,” says Caleb Harmon-Marshall, founder of the travel newsletter Gate Access and a former TSA agent.

Leave the wheelchairs for people who need them. Harmon-Marshall explains that whenever a traveler requests a wheelchair, an airline wheelchair pusher accompanies it. When able-bodied fliers take up these resources, people who actually need them could be forced to wait hours for availability, which might cause them to miss their flight.

The super-spreader

If you have a cold and you don’t wear a mask on the plane, you risk spreading your germs and getting other passengers on the flight sick too. And what’s ruder than ruining someone else’s vacation?

Gaines recalls an ill passenger seated behind her on a 14-hour flight who was hacking uncontrollably while unmasked. “So everyone else around her had to put on masks to protect themselves,” she says.

Amber Day

Mask up. If you’re feeling under the weather, cover your mouth and nose with a face mask. Also, as a courtesy to fliers on future flights in your seat, clean and disinfect areas that you’ve touched before you deboard the plane.

The entitled elitist

We get it: Air travel is expensive. According to data from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the average domestic airfare in the third quarter of 2024 was $366 in inflation-adjusted dollars, up from $345 in 2019. But paying a higher fare “doesn’t entitle you to treat people horribly,” says Shawn Kathleen, a former flight attendant and the creator of Passenger Shaming, a submission-based Instagram account that curates fliers behaving badly. “It doesn’t give you the right to treat the staff like your servants.”

Bill Bernal, president of Local 556 Transport Workers Union, a Southwest Airlines flight attendants union, agrees. “We are there to assist you. We’re there to help you with your journey,” he says of flight attendants. “But our priority is your safety.”

Show a little appreciation. “Some passengers bring us little treats like Starbucks gift cards or little gift baggies,” Bernal says. “That goes a long way with crew members because they’re treating us like human beings, and we’ll turn around and go that extra mile to give them whatever they want.” Who knows — that might even be a seat upgrade if there’s one available, he says.

The over-packer

Carrying on more than you can, well, carry can create a problem. “Some people take luggage that will never fit in an overhead compartment,” Gaines says. “These huge pieces of luggage end up stopping the whole boarding process.” As in, you’re holding up the line trying to shove your bag into the bin, or the flight attendant needs to take your bag back to the gate to check it.

Check big carry-on bags at the gate. If it’s too large or too heavy, don’t rely on the kindness of fellow passengers to help stuff your bag into the overhead bin, Shawn Kathleen says. Instead, consider checking your carry-on bag at the gate, especially if the airline is offering free gate-checking.

The tipsy traveler

Many people kill time at the airport bar while they wait for their flight. But the intoxicating effects of alcohol become more potent once you’re in the air — a mistake that your body will pay dearly for, as will your seatmates and flight attendants, if you behave rudely or become sick and vomit during the flight. Moreover, recent research suggests that alcohol’s effects may be more pronounced in older travelers.

Know your limit. Bernal explains that the altitude and pressurization on the plane make a big difference between having one drink in the sky and one drink on the ground. So you might conduct yourself fine at the gate but feel like you’ve over-imbibed after takeoff. If you know what your limit is on the ground, consider cutting it by half preboarding. And be mindful to reduce your intake in the air too.

The tuned-out flier

Bernal says it’s usually the passengers who don’t pay attention to the safety demonstration, often because they’re distracted or listening to headphones, that act the rudest during in-the-air emergencies.

Give the crew your undivided attention before takeoff. You may have heard the safety demo countless times, but remove your earbuds, put down your phone and pay attention. Doing so will help you stay safe during the flight — and assure flight attendants that they can depend on you if there’s an emergency, especially if you’re in an exit row. It’s only a couple minutes of your time.

The personal-space invader

Sardines in a tin can is an apt metaphor for air travel these days. Each passenger has such limited space that if you attempt to gain some wiggle room, it almost always means you’re stealing it from your neighbor.

Keep your appendages to yourself. Shawn Kathleen says the top grievance fliers have these days is with feet. “It’s crazy because they’re taking up armrests, they’re up on your headrest or the bulkhead,” she says. Whether shod or bare, don’t place your feet in the vicinity of other people’s arms, heads and other body parts.

As for the armrest? It’s meant to be shared between passengers on either side, da Silva Richmond says. So don’t passively pressure your neighbor’s elbow until they tire and cede the territory to you.

That being said, those in the window and aisle seats would be kind to let the middle person use the center armrests more frequently during the flight if it looks like they could use the space.

The audio exhibitionist

Don’t presume that your taste in music, films or TV is so impeccable that everyone around you wants in on the action. Likewise, no one wants to hear you watching videos on YouTube or playing Candy Crush. “Other passengers on the plane are a trapped audience,” says Gaines.

Pop in earbuds. It’s a simple solution: Wear headphones. If you forgot yours, ask the flight attendant for a free pair.

The parent shamer

Yes, crying babies are inherently loud — and, let’s be honest, irritating. But they can’t help it, and neither can their parents.

Ignore the wails. Show some sympathy. (If you’ve traveled with your kids or grandkids when they were little, you know how difficult it can be.) Don’t lose your cool over a fussy infant. “You are perfectly within your rights to be annoyed,” says Smith, but don’t express rude comments to the parents. “Just pop in your earbuds, snuggle in and pray the baby falls asleep,” she recommends. Or, if you don’t mind lending a hand, “try to assist the parent, or ask if they need help because they’re juggling so many things at once,” Harmon-Marshall says.

The aisle yogi

Naturally, your legs, shoulders and muscles can begin to feel stiff, especially on a long flight. These aches and pains can get worse as you age. But the aisle isn’t the place for you to do stretches and interrupt other passengers or drink service.

a person stretching in the middle of an aisle on a plane

Amber Day

Take a walk. If you can’t sit for extended periods, walk up and down the aisle once or twice and stretch your legs, rather than block the aisle while you practice your yoga form.

Wear compression socks. These garments can help with circulation while you’re in the air, especially on long flights. According to a 2021 study, compression stockings can help airline passengers reduce the risk of deep vein thrombosis. Make them an essential part of your attire when you fly.

The mindless recliner

Whether it’s socially acceptable to recline your seat is up for debate. As Shawn Kathleen notes, the seat "does that for a reason." But regardless of where you stand, it’s good form to consider the person behind you before you lie back.

Look first. Take a few seconds to check behind you before reclining. “Is it a guy who's six-foot-five with his knees up in his chest? Or somebody that has a tray table down and they're eating? Don't be a jerk,” Shawn Kathleen says.

The self-centered exit strategist

Everyone is eager to get off the plane and get to where they’re going, but standing up before the seatbelt light is turned off is a safety hazard.

Wait your turn. Stay seated until prompted, and let the people in front of your row exit first, Gaines says. The exception: If you’re running late for a connecting flight, it’s OK to politely ask fellow passengers to let you deboard before them.

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Perry Santanachote is a Denver-based freelance writer whose work has appeared in Consumer Reports, Good Housekeeping, Serious Eats and other publications.

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