3 types of passengers who deserve to be banned from flights

They’re inconsiderate. They irritate you. And sometimes, they infect you.

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Wouldn’t it be nice if we could ban passengers like that from the plane?

Two “no-fly” lists already exist. The government has one, which is a subset of the Terrorist Screening Database, or terrorist watchlist. Generally, you land on that list because you might blow up a plane. Airlines also maintain smaller lists of passengers whose business is unwelcome. You can get on it by threatening a crew member or misbehaving on a flight.

If you’ve been wondering whether the airlines should expand their own no-fly lists, you’re not alone. After a difficult summer for air travel, which included several frustrating incidents, people are looking for solutions. The idea of having stricter standards for in-flight behavior makes some sense.

Inconsiderate passengers

Joseph Flanagan, an engineer from Golden, Colorado, thinks the kind of passenger he sat next to on a recent flight should be blacklisted.

“We were barely 10 minutes into the flight when he pulled off both his shirt and his shoes,” he recalls. “The sight of a bare body in an enclosed public environment was disconcerting. Then he propped his damp feet on the chair in front of him. Judging by the ensuing stench, neither his socks nor his shoes had seen water or sunlight for quite some time.”