--- title: What Not to Do on an Airplane description: Don't kick the seat in front of you canonical: https://time.com/4062665/airplane-etiquette/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-15T15:53:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:02.564Z article:section: Ideas og:title: What Not to Do on an Airplane og:description: Don't kick the seat in front of you og:url: https://time.com/4062665/airplane-etiquette/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt49b85a1aec87229c/698866fdbc6cfcada53d9c43/empty-airplane-seats.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: empty-airplane-seats og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What Not to Do on an Airplane twitter:description: Don't kick the seat in front of you twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt49b85a1aec87229c/698866fdbc6cfcada53d9c43/empty-airplane-seats.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What Not to Do on an Airplane > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=31c8f46a-793b-4838-adec-eb2aaec7adbc&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Question Everything: Time Travel - When Would You Go? [Watch (HLS stream): Question Everything: Time Travel - When Would You Go?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/qfGiP28C.m3u8) (1:04)  _Published 2015-09-18. TIME hit the streets to ask New Yorkers several offbeat questions designed to provoke and prod the brain._ by [Amy Schellenbaum / Travel + Leisure](https://time.com/author/travel-leisure/) ## Amy Schellenbaum / Travel + Leisure Oct 15, 2015 3:53 PM UTC  empty seats empty seats Getty Images by [Amy Schellenbaum / Travel + Leisure](https://time.com/author/travel-leisure/) ## Amy Schellenbaum / Travel + Leisure Oct 15, 2015 3:53 PM UTC **Don’t:** [Kiss and then hit the flight attendant](http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/Flight-From-Miami-to-Chicago-Diverted-to-Indiana-Over-Unruly-Passenger-327564361.html?%5Fosource=SocialFlowFB%5FNYBrand). Why? (1) Assaulting people is bad, particularly when the person is just trying to get through her work day. (2) It’s very rude to your fellow passengers, especially when (3) the plane has to make an unscheduled stop so you can get cuffed and carried away. **Don’t:** [Refuse to sit down](http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/nuts-aviation-united-airlines-flight-diversion-belfast-rome-chicago) until you are served nuts and/or crackers. You’re a grown-up. Grown-ups don’t do this. **Don’t:** Push, knee, and kick the seat in front of you so vigorously, the person complains of whiplash. This guy [got a $400 fine](http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/man-fined-for-fighting-seat-recliner-on-airplane). **Don’t:** [Yell across the plane to your buddies](http://www.nbcnews.com/business/travel/southwest-airlines-passengers-held-after-plane-diverts-amarillo-n419311), refuse to listen to flight attendants, and then get inordinantly mad when they won’t serve you alcohol. You run the risk of getting your plane diverted to Amarillo, Texas. Also everybody in that metal capsule hurtling through the air at 500 miles per hour will, you know, hate you. **Don’t:** [Demand the plane be diverted](http://abcnews.go.com/US/delta-flyer-plane-land-reclining-seat-fight/story?id=25209486) because the person in front of you reclined his or her seat. See the note about grown-ups, above. **Don’t:** Get [too wasted.](http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/thomas-cook-flight-turkey-forced-6357997) That’s only [funny in the movies](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR7ZVF8AixY). **Don’t:** Demand a crew member be removed because he or she served you macademia nuts in a bag instead of on a plate. It doesn’t matter that you are the [eldest daughter of the airline’s chairman](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2866329/Nut-rage-Daughter-Korean-Air-s-chief-executive-threw-tantrum-JKF-demanded-plane-return-gate-served-nuts-bag-not-dish.html). **Don’t:** Keep bragging about how you “[know David Guetta.](http://www.businessinsider.com/ryan-case-live-tweets-plane-passengers-drunken-meltdown-2014-9)” That’s also just a good general rule—on plane or off. _This_ [_article_](http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/airplane-passenger-horror-stories-etiquette?xid=PS%5Ftime) _originally appeared on_ [_Travel + Leisure_](http://www.travelandleisure.com) _More from Travel + Leisure:_ * [The World’s Top 50 Hotels](http://www.travelandleisure.com/slideshows/worlds-best-hotels?xid=PS%5FTime) * [25 Secret European Villages](http://www.travelandleisure.com/slideshows/25-secret-european-villages?xid=PS%5FTime) * [The Best Countries for Solo Travelers](http://www.travelandleisure.com/slideshows/best-countries-for-solo-travelers?xid=PS%5FTime) ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] If I could travel any period in time, which time would I go? That's a really difficult one. Oh, if I could time travel, I would totally go back to the 50s and see Marty McFly as he was time travelling from the 80s. That's a good one. I'd travel back to the Revolutionary War I think George Washington was an awesome guy. I would have to say the 80s breakdancing period, maybe. Just bust out some moves, get crazy with it. Before the iPhones and the computers, when people actually looked at each other and talked. The 90s I heard were super fun. [ SOUND ] I would go to the 90s. So I could do it, do it all over again. I think summer. I think I'd like to go back to Jesus' time, although it was very violent. But it seems like a colorful era, although I kind of worry about dental problems. in those days. That would be my biggest concern. 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