Passenger Cheered for Confronting 'Screaming' Woman During Flight

Internet users have backed a person who got up during a flight and curtly asked a fellow passenger to be quiet, as even earplugs weren't enough to drown out their entire conversation.

A post that was shared on Reddit by user u/Walfredo_wya on July 11 said that a woman was "screaming the whole flight." Despite being two rows back, everything she said was audible.

The least acceptable behavior during a flight is drunkenness, which 55 percent of participants were fervently against, according to a 2023 poll by YouGov. Passengers who don't use headphones when watching or listening to something were another regular annoyance, as 31 percent found that completely unacceptable. As for chatty passengers and those who make forced small talk, 12 percent of respondents were totally against them, and 27 percent replied that it was somewhat unacceptable.

The Reddit user added that, even though they were wearing earplugs throughout the flight, "it was piercing my ears." While it was annoying for the person, it was also noticeably difficult for the person across the aisle, who "looked terrified" about getting on a connecting flight with the same people. The post reads: "I got up and walked back and said, you guys are flying to Florida next right? You may want to consider being a little more quiet on your next flight. I had earplugs in and could hear you screaming the entire time.

"I turned back around, and her boyfriend calls me an a******. So, I turned back and asked what he said. He told me I was an a******. Then the girl chimes in and said, we weren't even talking loud."

Following her protestations, the poster relayed all the information they'd overheard throughout the flight just to prove the point.

The person may have been trying to help out a fellow passenger, who wasn't quite as comfortable being so confrontational. But it didn't go down well with the recipient, and it's left the poster asking Reddit users if they were in the wrong after all.

While this isn't the first awkward encounter during a flight, and it certainly won't be the last, there are more polite ways of addressing the situation. Etiquette expert Lisa Mirza Grotts told Newsweek how "engagement in a confined space could mean trouble," so handling it in an appropriate way is vital.

Grotts added that people should be calm and polite when confronting a problem, or to seek help from flight attendants instead, as they're trained to deal with difficult passengers.

"To keep the peace, try politely asking them to lower their voices," Grotts said. "Approach them calmly and politely, saying it sounds like they're having a great conversation, but is there any way they could lower their voices a bit?

"Notify the flight attendant if the noise persists. They are trained to handle such matters and can address the issue appropriately," Grotts added. "If they are unresponsive at that point, it's really up to the flight crew to handle the issue."

The individual might have been questioning their actions, but many Reddit users have backed them for being honest and written that the poster didn't do anything wrong. Since the post was shared, there have been over 20,000 votes already, and more than 2,000 comments.

Many Reddit users empathized with the poster, as they too had their own experiences with loud passengers whom they couldn't bear.

One comment reads: "You are my kind of people! Speaking up for those that won't."

Another person commented: "If you could hear them from two seats back, even without earplugs, they're definitely talking way too loud."

Newsweek reached out to u/Walfredo_wya via Reddit message for comment. We could not verify the details of the case.

Have you had a dispute with a passenger? Let us know via life@newsweek.com. We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured on Newsweek.