British tourists risk being kicked off major global airline for one annoying habit

British tourists risk of being kicked off a major global airline if they are caught engaging in an annoying habit on board.

In February, American carrier United Airlines unveiled an updated noise policy in a bid to deter passengers from listening to podcasts, music or watch videos without wearing headphones.

At the time, the airline told the New York Post: “We’ve always encouraged customers to use headphones when listening to audio content - and our Wi-Fi rules already remind customers to use headphones.

"With the expansion of Starlink (a high-speed, satellite internet service from SpaceX), it seemed like a good time to make that even clearer by adding it to the contract of carriage."

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Breaching the contract can, in some cases, result in a passenger being banned from an airline for life.

The policy now falls under United Airlines' right to refuse section - which contains a list of ways travellers can face being turfed off flights.

Rule 21 on the updated list says the company can kick off passengers “who fail to use headphones while listening to audio or video content.”

The policy notes that holidaymakers who fall foul of the rules “on a permanent or temporary basis” can be removed from aircrafts at any point.

The rule sits alongside other serious violations, including harassment, disruptive, offensive or abusive conduct while on board.

It gives fresh powers to cabin crew, who previously were only able to politely ask noisy passengers to lower their devices' volume or advise them to wear headphones.

United's push to enforce quieter cabins comes as Starlink WiFi was rolled out on 300 aircrafts earlier this year - with a further 500 of their fleet expected to receive the in-flight internet service by the end of the year.

The carrier's chief advertising officer, Maggie Schmerin, said: “We are focused on what we call ‘travel truths’ in our advertising, so with this spot we wanted to recognize the truly giant leap Starlink Wi-Fi represents for our customers and what is now possible.

"Starlink is transforming the inflight experience on United planes with reliable connectivity that enables everything from productivity to streaming the biggest football game of the season."

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The airline will continue to hand out headphones free of charge on all of their services.

The policy's introduction comes amid a political row in Britain over the use of loudspeakers and headphones on public transport.

Last year, Sir Sadiq Khan launched a new Transport for London (TfL) campaign to encourage travellers to use headphones to listen to music on the public transport network.

The scheme, part of TfL's Travel Kind campaign, was rolled out on London buses, Overground and the Docklands Light Railway.

The Liberal Democrats had called on the Government to "take a leaf out of Irish Rail's book" after Ireland's rail operator announced €100 fines for those who don't use headphones.

The party's transport spokesman said: “Playing music and videos out loud on public transport has a real impact on other passengers’ lives. It’s often thoughtless, and sometimes deliberately intimidating, but always wrong.

“It’s now time for the Government to face the music by silencing it, with tougher action including fixed penalty notices across all public transport and a publicity campaign to put an end to headphone dodging.”

Meanwhile, Shadow Transport Secretary Richard Holden said that public transport users should not be forced to “endure somebody else’s choice of crap music”.

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