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United Airlines Threatens To Ban Passengers Who Make Noisy Faux Pas
United Airlines is getting a lot of support from fed-up flyers for its new policy, which would require passengers to use their devices with headphones or risk being permanently banned from the airline.
The new rule was added to United’s contract of carriage terms under its “refusal to transport” section in late February. At the time, the airline didn’t draw attention to the small tweak, but CBS News reported on the change earlier this week.
United’s new rules say they may “refuse transport, on a permanent basis” any passengers who “fail to use headphones while listening to audio or video content.”
The airline had already been encouraging headphone use for passengers. “Don’t worry if you forget your headphones for your flight. If they’re available, you can request free earbuds,” it says on the official website.
A spokesperson for United confirmed the change, per NY Post. “We’ve always encouraged customers to use headphones when listening to audio content — and our Wi-Fi rules already remind customers to use headphones,” the spokesperson said. “With the expansion of Starlink, it seemed like a good time to make that even clearer by adding it to the contract of carriage.”
The policy change was popular among social media users, with many questioning why the practice wasn’t standard across the airline industry.
“If anyone around you can hear any noise coming out of your phone, ever at all, you should be arrested and flogged and then thrown into the Pacific,” Daily Wire podcast host Matt Walsh observed.
“The inane world we’re living in where we have to make this a RULE instead of accepting it as common sense and a courtesy to other humans…,” a second person agreed.
“I don’t get it,” a third person chimed in. “Why do people actually feel the need to use speakers? I never did and never will. Don’t they know how disturbing it is? I see many people using speakers while talking on the phone like they are the only person in this world.”
Travel expert Scott Keyes told CBS News that only a small minority of travelers violate this standard of decorum, but the comments prove that the policy was needed.
“This is in line with how the vast majority of travelers comport themselves and would like others to comport themselves,” he told the outlet. “It’s usually only a small number of folks on airplanes who are making noise by not using headphones, so this is a graceful way to handle those folks.”