Flying Was Already the Worst. Now Nobody Uses Headphones.

Travelers say a surprising number of people think it's OK to take phone calls on speaker

- ALISON SIDER

Sitting at Washington Dulles International Airport earlier this year, Ady Beitler overheard both sides of an argument so caustic that "if it was my marriage, it would have been a breakup."

For the couple, the culprit was a wet towel left on the bathroom floor. But to Beitler, the problem was a fellow passenger's baffling willingness to have this petty fight on speakerphone, at a volume that was impossible to ignore.

"I got emotionally invested in the drama," said the 43year old entrepreneur. Eventually, he tore himself away and went to a quieter gate, having learned the hard way nothing good comes from confronting headphone resisters.

"I engaged once with a guy who had a different opinion. He was like, 'I don't think so. I don't think it's bothersome.'"

If security lines, flight delays and long layovers weren't enough, there's a new scourge facing holiday travelers: a surprising number of people who think it's totally OK to have phone conversations on speaker, or watch movies and shows without headphones.

"At first it irritated me. Then it annoyed me. Then it got me angry. Now I'm just be wildered," said Brennan Smith, 43, who flies across Canada every few weeks for his job as a railway foreman. "I don't know why they don't have signs up. There should be an announcement on the plane."

Some airlines have taken that to heart. Flight attendants at American Airlines and Alaska Air make announcements about the need to wear headphones. Delta recently added a plea for headphone usage at the bottom of its inflight entertainment website.