'Speaker scum' on flights sparks debate among travelers: 'This is getting out of hand'
Travelers have recently reported encountering “gate lice” and “seat squatters,” but there’s another controversial plane trend sparking fiery discussions on social media.
Flyers are calling out fellow passengers who play music or watch videos out loud not using earbuds.
In the “r/unitedairlines” Reddit forum, one flyer titled a post “Anti-headphones,” asking, “Do we have a term for our fellow passengers that do not use headphones? This is getting out of hand.”
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The user also addressed how travelers who cut lines when boarding were given the name “gate lice.”
“Hadn’t heard that before and made me laugh,” the user wrote.
Users took to the comments section to discuss travelers who listen to audio on devices without headphones.
“Speaker scum,” more than one user wrote, suggesting a nickname to give the travelers.
Another posted, “I’m all for the upcoming free wifi but dreading everyone with free wifi streaming, on calls, blasting music.“
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“United has added to their announcements asking pax to silence device or use headphones,” said a flyer.
Fox News Digital reached out to United Airlines for comment.
“I keep several of the free airline headsets in my bag. Offering them to someone doing this usually gets the point across,” one person wrote.
“Unfortunately the people using their speakers are unable to hear the announcement over the sound of their speakers,” another user commented.
“Hundreds of flights a year, I have never ran into it. Maybe it helps I wear headphones so I wouldn’t know either way. I know commenting this that [on] my next flight I will see it (hear it),” said one user.
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“I’ll just make it part of my ‘welcome to the friendly skies’ announcement. ‘Please be courteous to your fellow passengers by silencing your personal devices and using headphones or I’ll instruct everyone to educate you on why headphones are important,’” another person wrote.
“The amount of times it has happened to me in the last 4 months it’s stupid. Longest time this occurred was with a passenger sitting next to me on a RED EYE for 6.5 hours STRAIGHT. No breaks. Nothing,” shared one user.
On United’s website, listed under “Inflight Entertainment,” the airline shares a “Traveler pro tip.”
“Don’t worry if you forget your headphones for your flight. If they’re available, you can request free earbuds,” says the airline.
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Brandon Blewett, the Texas-based author of “How to Avoid Strangers on Airplanes,” told Fox News Digital that he sees this all the time.
“Most of the time, it’s people scrolling through Reels, YouTube Shorts or TikTok — or playing mobile games with the sound effects on,” he said.
Blewett said he has noticed a few airlines add a quiet cabin policy to the end of their pre-flight announcements.
“They now remind passengers that if they want to watch or play something on their device, the sound needs to go through headphones or be muted — even for kids,” he said.
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Blewett said he has seen flight attendants step in when others are inconsiderate.
“Sometimes there’s an innocent Bluetooth hiccup, and you can tell by the way people scramble in sheer panic to turn down the volume (myself included),” said Blewett.