Whether in the form of overhead pilot announcements or outright bans on several Asian and Middle Eastern carriers, airlines are increasingly moving the act of listening to something without headphones on a plane beyond mere bad manners.
Repeated traveler surveys find that consuming content on speaker is one of the most disliked passenger behaviors on an airplane while in 2023 an American Airlines captain went viral for a cockpit announcement in which he dubbed “the social experiment of listening to videos on speaker mode” officially over.
“Over and done in this country,” the captain elaborated in a rant he classified as the “little bit of fatherhood” in him coming out. “Nobody wants to hear your video. I know you think it’s super sweet. It probably is but it’s your business, right?”
“Passengers who fail to use headphones while listening to audio or video content”
Taking things one step further, United Airlines has now quietly updated its contract of carriage to officially state that failure “to use headphones while listening to audio or video content” could be grounds for removing a passenger from a plane and banning them from future flights.
As first flagged by airlines watchdog One Mile At A Time and traveler Gino Bertuccio, Rule 21 in the agreement now includes an additional reason for which United “shall have the right to refuse transport on a permanent or temporary basis or […] remove from the aircraft at any point.”
Related: Southwest Airlines bans item other airlines allow
With a total 22 reasons, the other 21 reasons include failure to pay for the flight or produce proof of identity, behavior that threatens the safety of other passengers on the plane and a state of pregnancy in the ninth month.
“Any Passenger who, by reason of engaging in the above activities in this Rule 21, causes UA any loss, damage or expense of any kind, consents and acknowledges that he or she shall reimburse UA for any such loss, damage or expense. UA has the right to refuse transport, on a permanent basis, any passenger who engages in any of the activities in this Rule,” reads the contract of carriage fine print that many travelers never get around to reading.
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What happens if you forget your headphones on a United flight?
While the first course of action will almost certainly be the flight attendant asking the passenger to turn the sound down or switch to headphones, the inclusion of the new clause in United’s contract of carriage provides the necessary legal basis to remove those who refuse to comply.
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With United now the first major U.S. airline to formally cement device speaker use in their contract of carriage, the move sets the stage for reciprocal moves from competitors as the problem continues across airlines and countries. American Airlines currently has a more broad “quiet cabin” policy that asks passengers to keep volume levels low for the comfort of others on the flight.
The issue of speaker use on airplanes and other modes of transportation and public spaces periodically comes up as a social media complaint from disgruntled passengers; some have even come up with the pejorative term “speaker scum” to refer to this behavior.
Related: Airline loses license over false pilot records, all flights off
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