Is there an appropriate way to enjoy in-flight entertainment?
With passengers presented with a wide array of movies and TV shows on an aircraft, there’s often hostility between those who think they can watch what they want and those who believe their neighbors should avoid offensive or inappropriate entertainment around children.
“I did not sign up to be a mid-flight babysitter,” Holly Graham, a director of booking for live entertainment based in Tampa, recently told The Washington Post in a recent article about airline etiquette.
“I’m going to watch what I want to watch,” she added, revealing she recently watched the frisky flick “Saltburn” on board a busy plane.
Graham told WaPo that she has had parents ask her to keep her movie selection to PG-13 and has declined.
On the other hand, Drew Margulis, who flies regularly from his home in Florida, will hit the skip button a couple times if a raunchy scene comes on during the movie.
“You can say, ‘Don’t look at someone else’s screen,’ but that doesn’t really work with a 4- or 5-year-old,” he said in a direct message on FlyerTalk, a forum for frequent fliers, per WaPo.
So what’s the proper etiquette?
Elaine Swann, an etiquette expert who spent a decade as a Continental Airlines flight attendant, told WaPo that she prefers to be hypervigilant and believes others should, too. But if you’re super eager to watch a specific movie, give a heads up to the parent of the kid in your row.
“We’re neighbors for the next four hours,” Swann, author of “Elaine Swann’s Book of Modern Etiquette,” said. “That way the parent can do the work and shield the child and keep them busy. People are happy to do that sort of thing. It helps us to coexist in a space that is built on respect.”
Kate McCulley, who runs the travel blog Adventurous Kate, suggested fliers bring their own device to watch movies that may make your neighbors uncomfortable.
McCulley will download movies onto her iPad to watch on the plane so she can more easily hide any R-rated moments.
“This is why I like window seats,” she said. “Nobody will see a thing unless they’re spying on you in a really creepy way.”
