United can remove and ban passengers who refuse to use headphones

United Airlines passengers will be experiencing a little more silence in the air as the company has stepped up enforcement of its noise rules.

In a recent change to the air travel giant’s contract of carriage — essentially United’s terms and conditions for ticket holders — the airline reserves the right to remove and even ban passengers who do not use headphones to listen to their music, movies and social media feeds.

According to the United Contract’s refusal of carriage rule, the company “has the right to refuse carriage on a permanent or temporary basis or to disembark any passenger at any time for the following reasons.” Buried in the rule’s safety provisions, which outline other reasons such as inappropriate attire or carrying weapons on board, the list now includes “passengers who fail to use headphones when listening to audio or video content.”

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United spokesperson Josh Freed said in a statement to the press, “We have always encouraged customers to use headphones when listening to audio content – ​​and our Wi-Fi rules already remind customers to use headphones. This seemed like a good time to make this even more clear by adding this to the contract of carriage.”

Most carriers have policies that urge passengers to use headphones during flight. For example, Southwest lists headphones as a requirement on its website FAQ. MSN reported that Frontier also includes headphone requirements in its luggage policy. United appears to be the first to include the wearing of headphones in its passenger contracts with clear means of enforcing this policy.

Across the industry, more and more air travelers are reporting passenger disruption on flights, including violent fights with fellow passengers and airline employees.