--- title: Walking Through First Class to Coach Makes Travelers Really Angry description: Even the mere existence of a first class section on a plane makes the likelihood of an incident rise three-fold, according to a new study. authors: - name: Ethan Wolff-Mann url: https://money.com/author/ethan-wolff-mann/ at_money_since: 2015 articles: 160 covers: - Lifestyle - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://x.com/ewolffmann former_staff: true published: '2016-05-03T16:02:00.000Z' modified: '2024-04-16T10:49:58.000Z' section: Lifestyle tags: - Air travel - Airlines - Inequality - pubdesk - Travel word_count: 361 canonical: https://money.com/air-rage-first-class-walk-coach/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Qatar Airlines, 1st class seats on Boeing 777, September 2010.](https://img.money.com/2016/05/160503_em_firstclass.jpg) *Qatar Airlines first class section* The walk-of-shame through the airplane's first class section to coach isn't fun for anyone. Judging from the lack of eye contact and pursing of the lips when it does happen, the high rollers sure seem to be uncomfortable. And of course the hapless proles are naturally agitated when briefly shown a cushy alternative with free drinks before they face a six-hour hell without legroom, hot towels, or dignity. While there's no doubt of the world's class systems, the plane places the privileged upper crust and envious commoners in extremely close proximity. According to [a new study](http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2016/04/26/1521727113) from the Rotman School of Management in Toronto, this is a recipe for air rage. Air rage is broadly defined as any airplane disobedience, from Alec Baldwin no-I-will-not-turn-off-my-phone to smoking in the bathroom, and the mere existence of a first-class section on the plane may have an impact. The data collected from a few million flights showed that the presence of a first class meant that air rage was 3.84 times more likely to happen among coach passengers. According [to Gizmodo](http://gizmodo.com/the-airplane-seating-arrangement-that-triggers-air-rage-1774254543), the researchers say that's the psychologically equivalent to a nine-hour delay. It gets much worse when passengers have to board from the front and stroll through the promised land. Air rage was over twice as likely on these flights than ones where passengers entered the plane in the middle, with the already boarded elite on the other side of the curtain. Causality is always a concern on studies like this. Is it actually the physical presence of inequality that causes passengers to lash out and behave badly? Does having a curtain dividing the classes manufacture a self-fulfilling prophecy? The researchers think so—they controlled for all the factors you'd think of, from the legroom to delays. ***Read Next:* [Airline Customer Satisfaction Improves, But Still Has a Long Way to Go](https://money.com/airline-customer-satisfaction/)** The study's findings seem to recommend boarding from the middle, as it causes far less delays and drama for passengers and airlines alike. This suggestion is also interesting for those looking to bring inequality to the surface—or to stifle conversation. Clearly, there's a sure-fire recipe to get people to notice how the other half lives. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/air-rage-first-class-walk-coach/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Lifestyle", "item": "https://money.com/lifestyle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Travel", "item": "https://money.com/travel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Walking Through First Class to Coach Makes Travelers Really Angry" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/air-rage-first-class-walk-coach/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/air-rage-first-class-walk-coach/", "name": "Walking Through First Class to Coach Makes Travelers Really Angry", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2016-05-03T16:02:00.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/air-rage-first-class-walk-coach/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/air-rage-first-class-walk-coach/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-16T10:49:58.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Walking Through First Class to Coach Makes Travelers Really Angry", "articleSection": "Lifestyle", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2016/05/160503_em_firstclass.jpg", "width": 2100, "height": 1395, "caption": "160503_EM_FirstClass" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ethan Wolff-Mann", "url": "https://money.com/author/ethan-wolff-mann/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/ethan-wolff-mann/#author", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/ewolffmann" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2016-05-03T16:02:00.000Z", "description": "Even the mere existence of a first class section on a plane makes the likelihood of an incident rise three-fold, according to a new study.", "abstract": "Even the mere existence of a first class section on a plane makes the likelihood of an incident rise three-fold, according to a new study.", "@id": "https://money.com/air-rage-first-class-walk-coach/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-04-16T10:49:58.000Z", "wordCount": 361, "keywords": [ "Air travel", "Airlines", "Inequality", "pubdesk", "Travel" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Lifestyle", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Travel", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travel" ] } ] } ] } ```