Cramped seats, a choir of babies crying, the soul-sucking process that is airport security. If you have been on a commercial flight in the last year or so, you know that it’s as enjoyable as going to the DMV. No wonder, then, that by the time we reach our plane seat, we can be a little, well, tense.

As u/kuzuriyuuuu shares in his ‘Entitled Parents’ story, this was the exact case with a Karen-like passenger who was sitting in his business class seat. Rather, trying to steal it. “She said, ‘Well, if you want me to move so bad, how about you pay to upgrade me and my children to first class’,” he writes, trying to paint a picture of how desperate some people can get. We won’t spoil how everything turned out, but let’s say the author’s ticket got bumped up with extra leg space.

Merely expressing a desire for something does not entitle one to obtain it through rude behavior, instead, it simply makes you an entitled person

Image credits: ninelutsk (not the actual photo)

A guy shared how a Karen-like parent tried to steal his seat and became the last, overly entitled hurdle before he could finally start his flight

Image credits: DC_Studio (not the actual photo)

Image credits: LightFieldStudios (not the actual photo)

Image source: kuzuriyuuuu

The author shared a few extra details in the comments

Passengers’ satisfaction rate with commercial air travel is dropping

Image credits: Connor Danylenko (not the actual photo)

Say what you want, but there’s something weird happening with commercial airlines. Less than three months ago, a passenger was escorted off a plane because he couldn’t bear listening to a weeping child anymore, turning into one himself as he started shouting at the stewardess. I guess, there’s no point in recalling a time when United Airlines infamously dragged a guy out, because he refused to give up his paid seat to one of the crew members.

No surprise, then, that travelers’ satisfaction rate with American airlines is at its lowest point since the pandemic. A recent survey by J.D. Power, an American data analytics company, revealed that passenger satisfaction with North American airlines experienced a significant nosedive of 20 points in 2022 compared to the previous year. Basic economy, regular economy, premium economy, and even the illustrious first and business class have failed to escape the wrath of disgruntled travelers. According to the survey, the average satisfaction score for this year was 798 out of a possible 1,000.

However, you could say the same thing about McDonald’s, which recently ranked very last in a customer loyalty study compared to its fast-food counterparts. Then again, we don’t see McDonald’s employees dragging customers out of the place because they take too long to choose between tangy barbecue sauce and creamy ranch (always ranch).

Turns out, airline class segregation affects our stress levels when traveling

Image credits: yisris (not the actual photo)

But why does air travel make us so frustrated and bothered about all the little things all of a sudden? A 2016 study, examining the so-called ‘air rage’ and class, revealed an intriguing finding: economy passengers experience heightened feelings of anger when they pass through the luxurious first-class section with their extra legroom and no crying babies.

It turns out, the hatred you might feel for first-class flyers is a common symptom of airline classism. On a psychological scale, the mere presence of first-class flyers can be equivalent to a flight delay of 9 hours and 29 minutes, or enough time to reach Washington from Copenhagen, Denmark.

However, first-class passengers aren’t immune to agitation either. In fact, those subjected to the indignity of having fellow travelers from economy class walk through their designated space, rather than boarding discreetly through a separate entrance, experienced even greater levels of anger. Bewildering and confusing, yes. But this discovery sheds light on the complex dynamics of class distinction and its impact on passengers’ fragile emotional state while flying. After all, once a plane’s wheels leave the ground, we’re in this together, ready to embark on our journey.

Turns out, the stress induced by crying babies and airport security can now be measured

There’s a measurement system which tracks how much a person enjoys his/her/their job (the Employee Satisfaction Index). There’s one for life satisfaction, too (simply called the Satisfaction with Life Scale). And what about the Global Driver Satisfaction Index which pretty much explains itself, doesn’t it? So why there shouldn’t be one that measures how much stress air traveling produces?

At least that’s what Jonathan Bricker, a psychology professor at the University of Washington, thought to himself, before coming up with one. “I have traveled extensively since childhood. In 1997, when I started my clinical psychology doctoral studies at the University of Washington, I was struck by how much fellow air travelers were stressed by the challenges of flying,” Bricker told Bored Panda in an email.

And so, having a rare chance to be the pioneer of an entirely new index, which combines two of his passions – traveling and “compassion for human suffering” – Jonathan published a measurement system in 2005 and called it the Air Travel Stress Scale. “It was a pioneering measure, rigorously developed through four separate empirical studies published in two papers,” he said. “I am happy to know has had a positive influence on research.”

There’s little surprise, then, that one of the main stressors of our air travel experience is annoying tight spaces. According to the results of Air Travel Stress Scale data, “two of the biggest stressors are airport security measures and being cramped in crowded airplanes,” Bricker explained. “Both of these situations limit us in the sense that they take away our freedom and sense of personal agency.”

And he’s not far from the truth. Based on the survey by Priority Pass, the world’s largest independent airport lounge access program, going through security is the second most hated aspect of air travel, topped by baggage collection.

People applauded the author for the way he handled things and rejoiced that justice was served

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