People are still being awful on flights, and no one really knows why

Manners have been shelved. There is a sense of victim hood in society today far broader than ever before. Victims lash out. People can be asses.

Personally I believe that the masks gave people a certain amount of anonymity so now that the mandate is lifted, they continue to behave as though they were still inconvenienced by others bx and therefore continue to act out. Especially in close proximity of each other.

The second half of the article gets at the crux, IMHO.

"Some aviation experts say many customers have most likely lost patience with airlines over high ticket prices, widespread delays and cancellations and sliding service quality in recent years."

Be at your gate 10 minutes prior to boarding. Boarding starts 40 minutes prior to departure. So get there 50 minutes prior to scheduled departure (and that's not even counting the ticketing /check-in lines or the whole TSA debacle), only to have the plane show up 30 minutes late, so folks are just STEWING in the terminal - which doesn't jave enough seats for everyone - for 45 minutes to an hour or more.

Finally get everyone on board, packed in like sardines, with no legroom, and no hip room. Then sit on the tarmac for an hour waiting for departure. In a plane that was not fully serviced after the last flight because it came in late and there wasn't time. So it stinks, and that stink is being recirculated through the AC - when it is running.

Then keep the seat belt sign on the entire time because you want to be able to taxi on a moment's notice. So people have been sitting around for a couple hours at this point, but they can't get up and use the bathroom. Passenger complaints rise, flight crew - who bear the brunt despite having no control over the situation - start getting frazzled. Mom gets up to take 4 year old Susie to the bathroom because small bladder. Flight Attendant who has already had to order 17 people back to their seat - CAN'T YOU SEE THE SEATBELT SIGN - has vowed to herself "if I have to tell ONE MORE person to sit down, so help me...." sees Mom get up and that is the last straw.


In an era when the size of Americans is increasing (which is a different debate, but it is still statistically true), airlines are finding every way they can to DECREASE the space allotted to them. Customer service is down. WAY down. Hidden fees are up. WAY up (although there has been some very recent reversal of this). And then you wonder why passengers are less willing to just go along with things.