Can’t stand it when plane passengers watch videos on full blast when you are trying to catch some sleep on a flight?
Well, those flying with United Airlines will be glad to know the carrier is now requiring passengers to wear headphones when watching videos or listening to audio content, or they will risk getting booted off the plane.
The new rule was reportedly spotted by Gino Bertuccio (@ginobertuccio on Instagram), a Miami-based traveler, according to the One Mile At A Time (OMAAT) travel website.
The new policy was quietly added to United’s contract of carriage under the “Rule 21 Refusal of Transport” section, which states: “UA [United Airlines] shall have the right to refuse transport on a permanent or temporary basis or shall have the right to remove from the aircraft at any point, any passenger for the following reasons” and lists various applicable circumstances. The reasons that apply now includes “passengers who fail to use headphones while listening to audio or video content.”
The new rule was added as no. 22 under section H, as part of its “safety” clause, which refers to “whenever refusal or removal of a passenger may be necessary for the safety of such passenger or other passengers or members of the crew.”
American passengers are likely to welcome the new etiquette rule. In a June 2023 survey of 1,000 adults from the United States and Canada, conducted for Kayak, travelers said: “You are not allowed to watch anything without headphones” because “70 percent of travelers like hearing their own music.”
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was said to have received 235 reports of unruly passengers in 2026 so far, according to a March report by the FAA.
The report found that $200,000 in fines have been issued against unruly passengers so far this year, with 14 investigations initiated, and 12 enforcement actions initiated.
“Incidents where airline passengers have disrupted flights with threatening or violent behavior are an ongoing problem, and airlines have seen rapid growth in occurrences since 2021,” the FAA said.
“The rate of unruly passenger incidents steadily dropped by over 80 percent since record highs in early 2021, but recent increases show there remains more work to do,” the federal aviation body said.
Unruly passenger incidents are referred to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) “when warranted” and can lead to a felony conviction, the FAA warns.
The FAA can propose fines of up to $43,658 per violation for unruly passenger cases, and one incident can result in multiple fines, the aviation body says.
Newsweek has contacted United for comment via email.
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