University Professor Queries Public on Proper Jetiquette During Busy Holiday Travel Season

WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumers are helping define the word ``Jetiquette'' in a survey being conducted by George Washington University professor Dr. Sheryl Spivack. Spivack used the word ``Jetiquette'' to determine if consumers felt that traveling on an airplane produces a set of conditions that require special behavior and conduct on the part of passengers.

Putting on nail polish, use of excessive perfume and cologne, noisy eating habits, unruly children, misuse of carry-on limits, and leaving the lavatory clean were just some of the suggestions made by the 300 who have thus far participated in the survey.

Spivack states, ``Airplanes are a confining environment, with usually limited and cramped space. Pressurized cabins add another element to the already uncomfortable situation that exists on most commercial airplanes. Adding the fatigue factor that many people experience on long haul trips, it is not surprising that tempers often flare between passengers.'' Though Spivack stated the primary reason of doing the survey was to test the use of the Internet for conducting market research, the survey yielded some interesting insights as to what consumers believe should be proper conduct or ``jetiquette'' of fellow passengers.

At a web site, survey participants ranked the importance of eight situations that might occur on an airplane, and then were allowed to suggest other items they considered to be proper ``jetiquette.'' Many respondents took the opportunity to vent bad past experiences.
One respondent wrote, ``Children should be under control. I once sat in front of a child that kicked the back of my seat for the better part of three hours. I wanted to slap the mother!'' Suggestions for ``jetiquette'' were not limited to noisy children. One person commented, ``If you know you snore,
do not sleep on the plane!'' Another participant suggested, ``Do not eat gas-forming foods prior to boarding.''

In a more serious vein, many of the participants suggested that airlines and their employees have a responsibility for creating an environment conducive for proper ``jetiquette'' to occur. ``There are too many rude check-in people,'' one person stated, ``they tell you they don't have an aisle seat, but yet when you board the plane, there are all kinds of empty seats, and everyone is bunched together.'' Many respondents
suggested that ``jetiquette'' should express positive social attributes. As one person stated, ``I think proper jetiquette is greeting the person seated next to you.''

According to Spivack, all survey participants will have the opportunity to respond to the comments of others in a second round of the survey. Anyone wishing to respond to survey's first round can still do so at www.travelminute.com/jetiquette. Spivack is a professor in the Department of Tourism & Hospitality Management, School of Business and Public Management at The George Washington University and is executive producer of a nationally syndicated daily radio program, The Travel Minute, which is produced in association with the university.

SOURCE: The Travel Minute