Listening to loud music or watching TikTok on phones while traveling on a United Airlines flight might kick you off the plane.
United Airlines updated its contract of carriage on February 27 to allow the Chicago-based airline to refuse transport, including issuing a potential permanent ban, to passengers who fail to use headphones while listening to audio or video content on flights.
Long considered proper etiquette to wear headphones during a flight, United made it a requirement, as reported by CBS News. The airline added “passengers who fail to use headphones while listening to audio or video content” as a reason for refusal of transport, with the potential for a permanent ban.
United said its Wi-Fi rules already encouraged passengers to use headphones on flights. “With the expansion of Starlink, it seemed like a good time to make that even clearer by adding it to the contract of carriage,” the airline said in a statement.
The contract of carriage, described as legally binding terms that passengers agree to when purchasing a ticket, gives United “the right to refuse transport on a permanent or temporary basis or shall have the right to remove from the aircraft at any point,” according to the Refusal of Transport section, US Today reported.
The addition was listed under safety, meaning the refusal or removal of a passenger “may be necessary” for the safety of everyone aboard the flight.
Other offences that could result in a passenger being removed from a flight, or even permanently banned, included wearing lewd, obscene, or offensive clothing; breaking the no-smoking policy; and making a video or phone call when the aircraft doors closed, taxiing for take-off, or while in the air.
United said travellers who forgot their headphones could request free earbuds if available.
