Airline Passengers are becoming less engaged in person with each other while travelling on planes according to a recent survey.
This has largely been caused by the emergence of mobile devices, laptops and in-flight movies and documentaries.
Travellers were asked how likely they were to converse with their seatmate. Of the more than 200 respondents, just five per cent said they always speak to their seatmates and nine per cent responded “frequently.”
The most common answer, at 44 per cent, was “sometimes” while 30 per cent said rarely and eight per cent said “never.” Just five per cent said they chat with their neighbour only if the other person initiates conversation.
These results vary compared with a similar survey conducted in 2015, in which 25 per cent said they speak with their seatmates “frequently” and almost 20 per cent said they do so if the conversation was started by their neighbour.
Women are slightly chattier than men, with six per cent responding “always,” compared with men at four per cent; these results were the same in both the 2019 and 2015 surveys.
Survey participants also were asked if they have ever formed an ongoing relationship with someone they met on a plane. Eight per cent of respondents replied “yes;” 87 per cent responded “no” and five per cent “don’t recall.”
“With everyone’s use of mobile devices, laptops and in-flight programming on planes, people are less inclined to entertain themselves with one-on-one conversations while flying,” concluded the experts.
ETN
