There are some unwritten rules of airplane travel that are very
important for flyers to adhere to.
These are:
The Person on the Window Seat Gets Control of the Window
This is just the way it is, whether you like it or not. The person
seated next to the window is the one who gets to decide if the
window remains open or closed during the flight, because he/she is the person that feels the effect of sitting beside the
window more than those on the other seats. If the person
seated beside the window is willing to accommodate the
‘window requests’ or ‘window needs’ of those on the other
seats, then that’s nice, if not, they’re just going to have to deal
with it or they can politely ask an air hostess for a change of
seat.
Give Everyone their Personal Space
It’s not uncommon for flyers to watch movies, series or TV
shows on their mobile devices, or maybe even read a book,
novel or magazine. However, no matter how tempting it might
be, avoid looking over their shoulder or encroaching their
personal space to watch with them or read with them. If you
want to watch with them or read with them, you should first
ask politely.
Invest in a Headphone or Earphone
When using your electronic devices, especially when watching
videos or listening to music, be sure to use your headphone or
earphones, to avoid disturbing those who are seated next to
you, especially those who are trying to sleep. Additionally,
aside from using a headphone or earphone, be sure to go a
step further and ensure the volume isn’t so loud it defeats the
purpose of using a headphone or earphone altogether. Try to
listen at appropriate volume levels when using your headphone
or earphone, it might not be very convenient for you but the
flight won’t last forever, and when it’s over you can do
whatever you want and increase the volume to whatever level
you want.
Be Aware of Your Surroundings
Before engaging your neighbour in a conversation mid-flight,
be sure to check for signs of interest. If your neighbour is
reading a book or using headphones, try to refrain from
engaging in a conversation. If you must, then you can briefly
interrupt the person, and watch to see how the person
responds. If the person is quick to plug their earphones back
in or is quick to return to reading his/her book, the person is
probably not interested in a conversation.
The Middle Seat Gets the arm rest
There is no question about this, the person sitting in the
middle seat has sole ownership of the arm rest. This is
because, the middle seat can already be quite uncomfortable
and restricting, so it’s quite unfair to make it worse for the
person by the depriving him/her of the comfort of resting his/her hands on the arm rest.
Please Do Not Fart on Your Seat
There is a toilet on the plane, so please make use of it if you
want to fart. It’s just that simple.