Air rage is FOUR TIMES more likely to happen in planes with first class cabins because economy passengers 'feel inferior', study shows

Air rage incidents are more likely when planes have a first class compartment as it triggers resentment in economy class, researchers claim.

Economy class passengers were vastly more likely to erupt in anger when flying in the same plane as first class passengers, a study found.

Airline travel is becoming more segregated - the researchers say - with first class travellers more likely to enjoy the benefits of reclining beds, and private ‘pods’. But this may lead to more dangerous, violent incidents in the skies, they warn.

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If a plane has a first class cabin, the chances of air rage increases due to resentment from economy while first class fliers are likely to become angrier as feelings of superiority make them turn violent (file image)

Researchers suggest that being made to feel inferior – by travelling in so-called ‘cattle class’ while others are getting luxury treatment – can trigger anger in economy fliers.

They say that the presence of a first class compartment on a plane had the effect of increasing the chances of an air rage incident comparable to a delay of 9 hours and 29 minutes.

And it is not just those flying in economy who are likely to become aggressive – as first class fliers are likely to become angrier as feelings of superiority make them turn violent.

Even though first class passengers are much fewer in number than those in economy, an air rage incident is nearly three times more likely in a first class cabin than in a plane where everyone flies in the same class.

The authors, Katherine DeCelles from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, and Michael Norton of the Harvard Business School said there was little academic research on why air rage is increasingly occurring.

Economy class passengers were vastly more likely to erupt in anger when flying on the same plane as first class passengers a study found (file image)

They said their research offers an ‘alternative view’ to ‘popular’ explanations for air rage – which include crowded planes, frustrating delays, and shrinking seats.

They did this by studying a database of up to five million flights of a major international airline and took into account a wide range of possible factors for air rage including seat width, how far a seat reclines, flight delays, length of flight, whether a flight was international or domestic and cabin area.

But they said that the biggest factor was ‘physical inequality’ on planes – signified by a first class cabin – as this was linked to more frequent air rage incidents on a plane.

They said the chances of an air rage incident in economy class was nearly four times higher when first class is present than when it is absent.

The second linked factor they call ‘situational inequality’ – where people are exposed directly to their difference in status.

When economy class customers boarded from the front of the plane – requiring them to walk through first class – they were 2.18 times more likely to be involved in an air rage incident. They said it would take an additional delay of 5 hours and 58 minutes to have the same effect.

But being exposed to economy class passengers even more greatly increased the odds of air rage by first class passengers – by nearly 12 times.

First class passengers, the authors argue, become more likely to suffer air rage as being reminded of their superior status ‘prompts negative emotions’ and aggression.

The authors add previous research has shown that after being made ‘more aware of their relatively advantaged status…higher social class individuals are more selfish, entitled, and scornful, psychological states that foster antisocial behaviour.’

The authors also broke down how air rage differs between first class and economy class.

Incidents in first class were more likely to be the result of belligerent behaviour, ‘involving a passenger’s expression of strong anger – 36.3 per cent of incidents in first class vs 27.8 per cent in economy class).

In economy class, air rage incidents were more likely to result from ‘emotional outbursts’ (6.2 per cent of the incidents in economy vs 2.2 per cent of the incidents in first class).

The authors, writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences write: ‘We show that physical design that highlights inequality can trigger anti-social behaviour on airplanes’.

The identity of the airline was not revealed – and the number of flights analysed was also not given to protect the identity of the airline.

They argue ‘even temporary exposure to physical inequality—being literally placed in one’s “class” (economy class) for the duration of a flight—relates to antisocial behavior, and that situational inequality—being reminded of economy or first class via the boarding procedure—further predicts such behaviour.

Katherine DeCelles told the Daily Mail that she thought air rage incidents are likely to increase as airlines offer ever more luxurious facilities to first class fliers.

‘I would think so,’ she said, ‘but I think that airlines are becoming more and more aware of this problem. They will not be getting rid of first class but making it less in your face.’

She said that in North America boarding from the front – exposing economy class passengers to the first class cabin - was more common than in Europe.

She added that to reduce air rage incidents airlines could ‘Just do something as simple as not having ‘red carpet’-style treatment of first class passengers.’ She said that future research will look at frequency of violent incidents in similar segregated environments such as cruise ships and sports stadiums.