‘Builder’s bum’ worst for flyers

Last month an American woman revealed how she was asked not to board a flight because her exposed cleavage was deemed inappropriate by Southwest Airlines’ staff.

However, new research by Skyscanner has shown that passengers’ biggest pet peeve of their fellow flyers is in fact cleavage of a different sort: ‘builder’s bum’.

The term refers to the exposure of the cleft between a man’s buttocks, normally due to ill-fitting trousers and careless bending over. In the Skyscanner survey of over 2,700 people, this topped the list of things that travellers find most offensive about their travelling kin, taking a hefty 28 per cent of the vote.

Personal hygiene was the second biggest turn-off for flyers, with ‘sweat patches on clothes’ taking 22 per cent of the vote.

Despite the Southwest Airlines cleavage incident, the Skyscanner survey showed that ladies with low-cut tops actually caused relatively little offence, taking just four per cent of the vote.

They were more offended by other areas of flesh on display, with 18 per cent not wanting to see their fellow passengers’ midriff or ‘beer belly’ on show.

For 23 per cent of passengers it’s the choice of clothes rather than lack of them proves most off-putting – ‘offensive logos on t-shirts’ took 12 per cent, while that favourite fashion faux-pas of wearing white socks with sandals gets under the skin of nine per cent of travellers.

Most offensive attributes of passengers on planes

1. Men revealing ‘builder’s bum’ (28 per cent)
2. Sweat patches on clothes (22 per cent)
3. Midriff/beer belly on show (18 per cent)
4. Offensive logos on t-shirts (12 per cent)
5. White socks and sandals (9 per cent )
6. Ladies with low cut tops displaying cleavage (4 per cent)
7. Men with hairy chest on show (2 per cent)
8. Noisy jewellery (2 per cent)
9. Football shirts (1 per cent)
10. Flip flops (0.5 per cent)