Air travel has become worse than ever — and the iPhone is to blame

pulse

March 23, 2018 9:14 PM

Social media makes it seem like air travel is a circus, but airlines aren't doing much to help themselves.

Smartphones and social media make it easier for stories of disruptive airline passengers to spread.
While it might seem like air travelers have become more volatile, much of that perception may result from how easy it is to film and share videos of extreme incidents on social media.
But by increasing the number of seats in their aircraft and making them smaller, airlines aren't helping to make flights less stressful.

It seems a day can't pass without a story about a disruptive airline passenger going viral.

Often, the stories are accompanied by videos filmed by other passengers. Together, they create the impression that air travel has become a circus. If your flight isn't interrupted by a passenger climbing onto a plane's wing or trying to open a cabin door in mid-air, you're lucky, it seems.

But it's difficult to tell if air travelers are acting out more, of if social media makes the most extreme examples of misbehavior easier to share. The answer probably involves both.

Social media makes it easier to record disruptive behavior

Stories of extreme incidents might make travelers more stressed

Theres no clear solution for airlines

Neither do airlines, who live under the constant threat of having to start damage control on a moment's notice when a passenger or employee's misbehavior goes viral. For them, the question isn't if they'll be at the center of a scandal, but when.

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