Introduction

This dataset is pulled from FiveThirtyEight’s github page. Survey contained a series of questions asked of 1040 respondents. These questions covered numerous topics, from “How often do you travel by plane” to “Is it rude to recline your seat on a plane”. Then, toward the end of the survey, there were descriptive-type questions, such what was respondent’s gender, education, family income, and location. As you see from the dataset below the questions were text-based that the user selected from SurveyMonkey. In the dataset I wanted to take a look at a series of trends, mostly by age. In particular, I wanted to see if each group had consensus answers to certain questions or there was much variety.

RespondentID How often do you travel by plane? Do you ever recline your seat when you fly? How tall are you? Do you have any children under 18? In a row of three seats, who should get to use the two arm rests? In a row of two seats, who should get to use the middle arm rest? Who should have control over the window shade? Is itrude to move to an unsold seat on a plane? Generally speaking, is it rude to say more than a few words tothe stranger sitting next to you on a plane? On a 6 hour flight from NYC to LA, how many times is it acceptable to get up if you’re not in an aisle seat? Under normal circumstances, does a person who reclines their seat during a flight have any obligation to the person sitting behind them? Is itrude to recline your seat on a plane? Given the opportunity, would you eliminate the possibility of reclining seats on planes entirely? Is it rude to ask someone to switch seats with you in order to be closer to friends? Is itrude to ask someone to switch seats with you in order to be closer to family? Is it rude to wake a passenger up if you are trying to go to the bathroom? Is itrude to wake a passenger up if you are trying to walk around? In general, is itrude to bring a baby on a plane? In general, is it rude to knowingly bring unruly children on a plane? Have you ever used personal electronics during take off or landing in violation of a flight attendant’s direction? Have you ever smoked a cigarette in an airplane bathroom when it was against the rules? Gender Age Household Income Education Location (Census Region)
3436139758 Once a year or less NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
3434278696 Once a year or less About half the time 6’3" Yes The arm rests should be shared The arm rests should be shared Everyone in the row should have some say No, not rude at all No, not at all rude Twice Yes, they should not recline their chair if the person behind them asks them not to Yes, somewhat rude No No, not at all rude No, not at all rude No, not at all rude No, not at all rude No, not at all rude No, not at all rude No No Male 30-44 NA Graduate degree Pacific
3434275578 Once a year or less Usually 5’8" No Whoever puts their arm on the arm rest first The arm rests should be shared The person in the window seat should have exclusive control No, not rude at all No, not at all rude Three times Yes, they should not recline their chair if the person behind them asks them not to No, not rude at all No No, not at all rude No, not at all rude No, not at all rude Yes, somewhat rude Yes, somewhat rude Yes, very rude No No Male 30-44 $100,000 - $149,999 Bachelor degree Pacific
3434268208 Once a year or less Always 5’11" No The arm rests should be shared The arm rests should be shared Everyone in the row should have some say No, not rude at all No, not at all rude Three times No, the person on the flight has no obligation to the person behind them No, not rude at all No Yes, somewhat rude No, not at all rude No, not at all rude Yes, somewhat rude Yes, somewhat rude Yes, very rude No No Male 30-44 $0 - $24,999 Bachelor degree Pacific
3434250245 Once a month or less About half the time 5’7" No The person in the middle seat gets both arm rests The person in aisle Everyone in the row should have some say No, not rude at all No, not at all rude Twice No, the person on the flight has no obligation to the person behind them No, not rude at all No No, not at all rude No, not at all rude Yes, somewhat rude Yes, somewhat rude Yes, somewhat rude Yes, very rude Yes No Male 30-44 $50,000 - $99,999 Bachelor degree Pacific
3434245875 Once a year or less Usually 5’9" Yes Whoever puts their arm on the arm rest first Whoever puts their arm on the arm rest first The person in the window seat should have exclusive control Yes, somewhat rude No, not at all rude Once Yes, they should not recline their chair if the person behind them asks them not to No, not rude at all No Yes, somewhat rude No, not at all rude Yes, somewhat rude Yes, very rude Yes, very rude Yes, very rude No No Male 30-44 $25,000 - $49,999 Graduate degree East North Central

Initial Analysis

My first step was to graph all the descriptive factors of participants to see if there was any skewness in one type of group giving answers over another. From the graph below it is clear that most people in the survey have been on a flight at least once in their lifetime. This is a good sign since we are studying the data that deals specifically with flight etiquette. The next 5 graphs below do not point to any particular skewness in participants - it appears that we have a very diverse dataset.

In Depth Analysis - Age Group

I now examine generational response to survey questions. For all questions 18-29 group has a much higher percentage of NA answers.

Question 1: Do you ever recline your seat when you fly?

I looked at granulated response, with all six questions and then combined “Always/Usual” and “Never/Once in a while.” Interestingly, 30-44, and especially 45-60 year old, “A” recline more than 60+. This is maybe because they travel more on business and need a rest and maybe because it is a bit strenuous for older folks. However, “A/U” is on somewhat downward trend from 30-44 to higher age, probably again business travel related. Clearly, 18-29 group reclines a lot less.

Age About half the time Always/Usually Never/Once in a while <NA>
18-29 21 48 103 48
30-44 33 87 102 32
45-60 34 91 109 41
> 60 28 81 106 43
NA 2 5 8 18
Age About half the time Always Never Once in a while Usually <NA>
18-29 21 21 48 55 27 48
30-44 33 35 38 64 52 32
45-60 34 50 39 70 41 41
> 60 28 26 41 65 55 43
NA 2 5 5 3 NA 18

Question 2: In a row of three seats, who should get to use the two arm rests?

18-29 group seems to be more on the “whoever gets their first” attitude, while older people are more prone to share. But even 18-29 group is close to 50% in armrest sharing.

Age Other (please specify) The arm rests should be shared The people in the aisle and window seats get both arm rests The person in the middle seat gets both arm rests Whoever puts their arm on the arm rest first <NA>
18-29 12 104 7 26 23 48
30-44 14 150 6 28 24 32
45-60 12 159 3 36 24 41
> 60 7 166 1 27 14 43
NA NA 8 1 2 2 20

Question 3: In general, is it rude to knowingly bring unruly children on a plane?

The 30-44 group is the most tolerant, followed by a 18-29 group. This is possibly because the 30-44 group is most likely to have small children, followed by 18-29 group. Also, younger adults may still remember what it is like to travel on the plane as children.

Age No, not at all rude Yes, somewhat rude Yes, very rude <NA>
18-29 30 79 63 48
30-44 56 89 77 32
45-60 36 99 99 41
> 60 25 81 109 43
NA NA 3 3 27

Question 4 : Have you ever used personal electronics during takeoff or landing in violation of a flight attendant’s direction?

Not surprisingly, compliance grows with age and non-compliance decreases. Percentage of NA answer grows from 30-44 group to older adults, because older adults may use electronics less.

Age No Yes <NA>
18-29 121 51 48
30-44 175 47 32
45-60 209 25 41
> 60 202 13 43
NA 6 NA 27

Conclusions

The “unruly children” part was the most surprising, since one would expect older people to be more tolerant to young kids. Also little difference in reclining habits between three older groups is somewhat surprising since one would expect older people to recline more. The other two questions produced no surprises, as younger people tend to be more individualistic, less obedient and sharing and more attached to their electronics.