Aussie attitudes take flight

FLYING isn’t what it used to be. And it wasn’t long ago that boarding an aeroplane felt like a truly special experience.

From dress code to security procedure to those little bags of peanuts, the golden age of air travel seemed so much more civilised than today’s glorified bus ride. But those idealised images of shiny chrome airliners and beautiful (non-rolling) leather luggage from the 1950s, 60s and 70s fail to represent the whole picture.

Commercial air travel used to be more exciting and more exclusive but for most of us it was never really any more glamorous. In the old days, we got a bit more legroom and a few more in-flight perks, but the fares were prohibitively expensive. And squeezing into a tin can with a hundred other people is never particularly pleasant, no matter how many extras you get. Okay, maybe one more complimentary cocktail wouldn’t hurt.

About this time of year, many of us are returning from holidays and have just been reminded of what it means to travel by plane these days. We all have our preferences, pet peeves and phobias, but for the most part, it seems we’re having a pretty good time up there. A recent study shows Australian perspectives on flight etiquette are mostly easy going – but we do have our quirks.      

The new survey, conducted by Travelzoo Australia, tracks the mile-high moods of some 2500 Aussie travellers and sheds a little light on what makes today’s jet-set tick.

Results find Australians are willing to make allowances for cramped quarters and generally show good humour about the mannerisms of their fellow passengers. A whopping 75% of respondents, for example, said they were unfazed by a couple doing you-know-what in the toilet (5% said they’d ask to join in). And 42% said they’d just politely smile to a chatterbox neighbour rather than try to shut them up.  

To learn more about what all this says about us, SuperLiving spoke with Travelzoo Australia general manager Brad Gurrie. Brad suspects our high tolerance in the air is partially due to Aussies’ familiarity with long-haul travel. 

“To get overseas or up to Asia where a lot of Australians travel, it’s a seven to eight-hour flight,” he said. “But when you talk about Europe, to go to a holiday destination, the flight times are a lot less. In terms of distances and time onboard aircrafts, Australians approach flying from a very different perspective.”

Another encouraging result found almost half of travellers think flying is more enjoyable than it was 10 years ago, a trend Gurrie pins largely on an evolution in economy.

“People enjoy travelling more when they get a deal,” he explained. “Ten years ago in the Australian aviation industry, it was just Qantas and Ansett that were flying. Just around 10 years ago we saw the demise of Ansett and the introduction of Virgin Blue [now Virgin Australia]. We’ve also seen Jetstar and Tiger come in. What that’s done is open up travelling to a lot more people. They’re getting deals and if you travel more, you’re probably going to enjoy it.”

So we’re happily flying more often and have a fairly laidback attitude about thongs, bare feet, breastfeeding, talky strangers and hanky-panky in the toilet. But that doesn’t mean anything goes.

Survey participants spoke loud and clear about bringing hot takeaway food to your seat, with a conclusive 81.5% saying it was unacceptable behaviour. The worst aspect of modern air travel was roundly decided to be screaming children (67.7%) and 56.7% said singlets are inappropriate clothing.

Unfortunately, not every aspect of flight etiquette received such strong verdicts and we’re left with a few unresolved points of contention. Among the most controversial battlegrounds is the dreaded middle seat armrest and who may rightfully claim total elbow comfort.

“I was hoping for something to be very conclusive around the shared armrest because that’s always a big issue for a lot of travellers,” Gurrie said. “It causes a lot of frustration when there’s that niggle about who gets that armrest, because there’s probably about 5cm there and it’s clearly not enough for two people.”

Travelzoo’s survey was split almost 50:50 on the armrest issue, and when pressed to take a stand, Gurrie was dutifully diplomatic.

“If you’re in the middle, you’re certainly entitled to at least one of the armrests,” he said. Case closed.

Too fat to fly?
 
In another shock to that glamorous aesthetic of air travel’s early days, it seems many of us are now willing to step on a scale when checking in. Almost one third of passengers believe it’s appropriate to charge people airfare according to how much they weigh.

Air carrier fat taxes have been in consideration with various airlines for years now and there’s a surprising amount of passenger support for the idea. But the social awkwardness of charging people as though they were heavy baggage seems unlikely to gain much traction in the industry without customer approval.

“It probably looks great on a spreadsheet, but the fact is, there’re a lot of sensitivities around weight and it’s just something that would probably upset a lot of people,” Gurrie said.

“I really don’t think that it’s something the airlines would actually put upon people. At the end of the day, people who are travelling aren’t really going to be interested in getting weighed and being told that they’re above the average weight. I don’t think its something that the airlines will pursue.”