Stewart Scott-Curran/CNN
Annoying passengers: Some fliers don't need a dose of Ambien to go rogue. Passengers who use their feet as weapons topped Expedia's list of onboard etiquette violators in a recent Airplane Etiquette Study. Rear seat-kickers are aggravating to 64% of respondents.
Stewart Scott-Curran/CNN
Dereliction of duty: Parents who seem to forget they are flying with children dependent on them for snacks and entertainment are a nuisance to 59% of those surveyed.
Stewart Scott-Curran/CNN
Unwashed masses: Stinky passengers are objectionable to 55% of fliers in Expedia's fourth annual survey of annoying airline passenger behaviors.
Stewart Scott-Curran/CNN
Audio assaults: Passengers who talk, play games or listen to their favorite songs or shows at top volume aggravate nearly half of those surveyed.
Stewart Scott-Curran/CNN
Aggravating indulgence: If you can't remember your flight, you might be a boozer. Boozers are unpleasant to 49% of surveyed fliers.
Stewart Scott-Curran/CNN
Big-time small talk: You may be excited to meet new people on your flight, but 40% of fliers find in-flight chatterboxes annoying.
Stewart Scott-Curran/CNN
Springing into action: The queue jumper rushes to deplane, thinking those few extra minutes are more important for him than anyone else. And that's why 35% are irritated.
Stewart Scott-Curran/CNN
Relaxation at any price: The seat-back guy, aka the seat recliner, doesn't care about the impact of his recline on the people behind him. And 35% of fliers are annoyed.
Stewart Scott-Curran/CNN
All elbows: The armrest hog never learned to share, and that upsets 34% of fliers.
Stewart Scott-Curran/CNN
Unwelcome aromas: Take-out burgers with extra onions? Yep, pungent foodies are a nuisance to 30% of survey respondents.

Story highlights

Seat kickers are No. 1 among annoying airplane passengers

Inattentive parents also earn the ire of their fellow fliers

CNN  — 

Are they nervous, or bored, or completely oblivious? There’s no one-size-fits-all diagnosis for the airplane seat kicker, but they’re universally annoying.

For the third year in a row, rear seat kickers have earned the dubious distinction of being the No. 1 most offensive type of airline passenger.

They beat out inattentive parents, aromatic passengers, seat recliners and more in the fourth annual Expedia Airplane Etiquette Study, released Tuesday.

Drawn from feedback from 1,005 Americans age 18 and over, the study shows that 64% of respondents find the rear seat kicker annoying. Inattentive parents rank second, aggravating 59% of those surveyed, followed by smelly or “aromatic” passengers (55%).

Rear seat kickers have topped the rankings since 2014. In 2013, the first year of the study, inattentive parents topped the list.

Despite some variations, there’s a common theme from study to study.

“A prevailing theme across all four years of the study is the importance people place on the sanctity of their personal space within the tight confines of an airplane,” said Dave McNamee, Expedia spokesman.

The good news?

“A sizable majority of Americans – 70-80% of people – consider their fellow passengers to be ‘considerate,’” McNamee noted.

Annoying passenger rankings

So how do all the aggravating passengers stack up? Here’s the full 2016 list:

1. The Rear Seat Kicker (cited by 64% of respondents)

2. Inattentive Parents (59%)

3. The Aromatic Passenger (55%)

4. The Audio Insensitive (49%)

5. The Boozer (49%)

6. Chatty Cathy (40%)

7. The Queue Jumper (35%)

8. Seat-Back Guy (35%)

9. The Armrest Hog (34%)

10. Pungent Foodies (30%)

11. The Undresser (28%)

12. The Amorous (28%)

13. The Mad Bladder (22%)

14. The Single and Ready to Mingle (18%)

Commissioned by online travel company Expedia, the study was conducted by GfK, an independent market research company.