It's National Etiquette Week—the ideal time to start a midair brawl.
Will the surge in incivility on planes and in airports dampen meeting travel?
It doesn't take much to do so.
The SARS epidemic clobbered tradeshow attendance in the early 2000s. (I can recall vividly that the epidemic was the sole topic of discussion at UFI's 2003 summer meeting).
Unlike SARS, incivility is a uniquely American disease.
When it comes to air travel, it seems we have two modes: fight or flight.
But there are other options.
According to Expedia's 2017 Annual Airplane Etiquette Study, the 10 leading causes of scrapes on a plane are:
- Rear seat-kicking
- Inattentive parents
- Odiferous passengers
- Audio-insensitive passengers
- Intoxicated passengers
- Incessant chatting
- Queue jumping
- Seat reclining
- Armrest hogging
- Smelly food consumption
How do American passengers respond? According to the study:
- 62% alert flight attendants when provoked
- 33% endure the offense in silence
- 13% video-record the offender
- 10% confront the offender
- 5% complain on social media
- 3% shame the offender on social media
