Armful of troublemakers

Should the Government pass a law laying down a code of conduct for behaviour on planes?

Maybe. After all, we've had regulations governing just about every other aspect of human behaviour. And there are lots of things people do on planes that infuriate their fellow passengers.

Perhaps Parliament's Transport and Industrial Relations Select Committee should tour the land to hear the views of travellers. Or, if that sounds too much like hard work, it could just consider the submissions already sent in by Travel readers.

Michele Hewitson, for instance, provided this submission on the tricky issue of armrest etiquette:

"I am not a malicious person but I do rather hope that the bruises in the side of the snoring man who sat beside me on a recent flight to Wellington hurt quite a lot. I know my elbows did after all the jabbing into his side I did all the way. He didn't seem to feel a thing. He is, no doubt, used to it.

"I blame myself, really. I had stupidly forgotten to ask for an aisle seat, which would have meant that I could have been the one hogging two arm-rests.

"There was a bloke on my other side too, and he was also an arm-rest hogger. Blokes usually are.

"No doubt they justify this by either sleeping and snoring and thus not being responsible for their creeping arm-rest action. Or they do terribly important work on their laptop computers which involves sticking their elbows into other people's space. Or they read the newspaper, usually the business section, which is a macho thing to do and so must be accompanied by elbow creepage.

"But, what, beyond jabbing back with your own elbows - which is tiring and may invite a counterattack - is one to do? And what is the etiquette in these situations?

"There are usually four arm-rests between six elbows. The passengers at either end each have exclusive use of one that no one else can get at. But what about the middle two? Who has rights to them?

"Should the person in the middle be allowed to use both? Or none? Or one? And if one, which one? The righthand one for one half of the journey, and the left for the remainder? Should a 'switch, now' announcement be made at half time? You see, the thing is fraught. It needs sorting out."

Peeves sent in by readers - which could well justify banning activities such as headrest grabbing and premature luggage removal - include:

* Just when there's a key part of a movie, passengers decide to go to the loo, even when all are full, and stand in front of the screen. - John Wallace

* You settle in your seat and, when you're halfway through a meal, your tray comes back into your lap, the drink elsewhere, as the clown in front rams his or her seat back as far as it can go. - R. Spicer

* When we've reached our destination and passengers stand and start retrieving their luggage from the overhead compartments before the seat belt sign has been turned off. I've witnessed a few incidents where the plane jolts to a stop causing a seated passenger to cop a nasty blow on the head. - Narelle Ketelhohn

* People who grab your headrest, when getting out of the seat behind, drive me nuts. - Ian McAlley

What do you think? Should the safety leaflet in the back of the seat in front include a section on arm-rest etiquette?

Is it time for a law laying down heavy penalties for passengers who swing on headrests?