United Airlines has updated its list of reasons which can see a passenger ‘refused’ travel and it’s about time this rule was made official.
There’s a new entry in the ongoing conversation about what counts as acceptable behavior in the air. This time, it’s not just passengers arguing online about manners onboard — United Airlines has formally spelled out one common irritation as grounds for action.
The update appears within section 21, titled ‘Refusal of Transport’, and it reinforces the airline’s ability to step in when a customer’s behavior affects others.
In that section, United states it has ‘the right to refuse transport on a permanent or temporary basis or shall have the right to remove [a passenger] from the aircraft at any point’ for a variety of situations.
Some listed reasons are straightforward, including ‘failure to pay’ and cases where someone shows up unclothed, barefoot, or intoxicated.
But in a revised version of its ‘contract of carriage,’ the carrier has also introduced clause 22 under section 21 — addressing a behavior many travelers have long wanted enforced.
The contract now specifies the airline may deny travel or remove a person if they ‘fail to use headphones while listening to audio or video content’.
For many travelers, this will sound less like a new concept and more like an overdue clarification. Few things sour a journey faster than unwanted noise — whether it’s loud videos, a blaring playlist, or games played without headphones in a confined cabin.
United’s policy also outlines potential consequences beyond being asked to stop. It notes that if a passenger engages in conduct covered by rule 21 and it results in ‘any loss, damage, or expense of any kind’ to the airline, the passenger will be expected to ‘reimburse’ United.
It further states the carrier may permanently bar travel for those who violate the rule, emphasizing it reserves ‘the right to refuse transport, on a permanent basis, any passenger who engages in any of the activities in this Rule’.
“In addition, the activities enumerated in this Rule shall constitute a material breach of contract, for which UA shall be excused from performing its obligations under this contract,” it adds.
The language also makes clear that if someone is removed for violating the rule, United Airlines isn’t ‘liable for its refusal to transport any passenger or for its removal of any passenger in accordance with this Rule’.
A traveler ‘may be eligible for a refund upon request,’ though the simplest solution is to avoid the issue entirely by bringing — and actually using — headphones.
The change was confirmed in an email to The Post, with a spokesperson saying the airline has ‘always encouraged customers to use headphones’ and that existing ‘Wi-Fi rules’ already served as a ‘reminder’.
“With the expansion of Starlink, it seemed like a good time to make that even clearer by adding it to the contract of carriage,” they added.
If you forget your headphones, there may still be a workaround: United Airlines crew members are typically able to provide headphones for free if you ask.
Consider this your heads-up.