What’s that smell? Shoe etiquette (and drama) on your next long-haul flight.
- Passengers are divided on the appropriateness of removing shoes during flights, citing comfort versus hygiene and safety.
- For shorter flights, etiquette experts advise keeping shoes on, while longer flights allow for shoe removal if feet are odor-free.
- Passengers seated in emergency exit rows should always keep shoes on for safety reasons.
- Airlines may need clearer guidelines on footwear etiquette to minimize in-flight conflicts.
Imagine settling into your economy class seat on a 13-hour flight, only to find a stranger's shoes occupying the space beside you.
That's what happened to Jaskaran Gautam when he was flying from Tokyo to New York recently. The passenger next to him had switched seats but left his foul-smelling footwear behind.
"I complained to the flight attendant that the passenger had left his shoes," says Gautam, who works for a technology company in Kyoto, Japan.
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Almost nothing gets passengers more excited than the topic of shoes on a plane. Should you take them off or keep them on? What if you have foot odor? And how do you handle a passenger with smelly feet?
Foot skirmishes are becoming a regular problem on planes. Most of them are low-level, resulting in a complaint to the airline. But sometimes, people go too far when they remove their footwear. Back in 2018, Spirit Airlines diverted a flight from New York to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, after the odor of smelly feet developed in a section of the aircraft. They even had to call a hazmat team, which failed to find the source of the smell.
The major U.S. airlines have shoe policies, sort of. American Airlines says flying barefoot is not allowed. Delta Air Lines says it may refuse to transport you if you're barefoot. Same for United Airlines. But the rules don't address the passengers who remove their footwear and keep their socks, which, as everyone knows, can be just as bad.
Should you leave your shoes on when you fly?
Passengers have been debating whether it’s acceptable to remove shoes on airplanes. Some argue it's a matter of personal comfort, while others cite hygiene and safety concerns. However, there is some agreement on the question of whether to remove your shoes on shorter flights.
"It's a nonissue," said Jodi RR Smith, an etiquette expert with Mannersmith Etiquette Consulting. "On short flights, you should keep your footwear on for the entire flight."
For longer flights – anything over four hours – it's OK to take off your shoes, especially if you're trying to sleep.
"But only if your feet have zero odor," she said.
There's another group of passengers who should never remove their shoes, said Rosalinda Oropeza Randall, an etiquette expert.
"If you are seated in the emergency exit row, your shoes should always be on," she said. "You have elected to take on the responsibility of calmly and expeditiously being ready to assist. There's no time for a shoe search, untying the shoelace knot, and putting them on."
Also, always, always keep your socks on. And if you need to use the bathroom, put your shoes back on. Because that's not necessarily water on the floor of the lavatory. But you already knew that.
So, bottom line: Keep your shoes on if you can. But if you can't, then keep your socks on. Absolutely no bare feet on the plane!
What if you have foot odor?
So let's say you're on a plane for a while, like that marathon flight from New York to Tokyo. The guy next to you steps out of his sneakers, releasing noxious gases strong enough to choke you.
How do you know if, you know, it's you?
"You know your feet and you know if they smell," said etiquette expert Nick Leighton, who co-hosts the weekly podcast, “Were You Raised By Wolves?”
If you have a foot odor problem, or think you have a foot odor problem, you'll want to keep your footwear on at all times or find a way of neutralizing the smell, for the sake of other passengers.
Susan Sherren, who runs the travel agency Couture Trips, said the recent confrontations are no surprise to her. Airlines just don't give passengers enough guidance on footwear etiquette.
"These days, people need more specific instructions on how to behave," she said. "We are guests aboard these flights. With specific rules of engagement spelled out, we all could have more enjoyable and civilized flights."
Or at least, a better-smelling one.
What to do with a passenger whose feet smell
Confrontations between passengers who violate the unspoken rules of footwear and those who are having trouble breathing are never, ever easy.
I've been stuck sitting next to a passenger whose foot odor was so strong that it would have summoned a hazmat team. It was an attractive young woman whose shoes smelled like pluff mud on an August afternoon.
"A brief, polite question, such as 'Can you please move your shoes?' Or 'Would you mind putting your shoes back on?' might be all you need," said Clara Burke, who teaches business management communication at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business. "Focus on the outcome you want: getting their shoes back on."
But I did what most polite airline passengers did; I quietly endured the trip. I shouldn't have, according to etiquette experts.
"I would contact the flight attendant to handle it," said Rachel Wagner, an etiquette trainer.
What would a flight attendant do? Your cabin crew has been trained to handle situations like this. They can calmly request that the passenger put the offending footwear back on, putting a cork on the smell, at least until the plane lands.
That usually works, although in Gautam's case, it did not. You'll recall that he was on a marathon flight to Japan when his seatmate dropped his shoes next to him and then moved seats. Gautam asked the flight attendant for help, but for some inexplicable reason, the airline employee refused, saying the customer was a "regular" with the airline and that it was OK.
Only, it wasn't OK.
"I avoid flying on the airline now," he said.
Good call.
Look for more shoe confrontations this summer
With the summer travel season just ahead, it wouldn't surprise me to see more fights over footwear breaking out in midair. I'll try to remember the advice of the etiquette professionals – keep my shoes on, especially when I'm using the bathroom. Take them off only if it's safe (and by safe, I mean it doesn't affect the cabin air quality).
But maybe a solution is up to the airlines. Instead of blanket bans on bare feet, perhaps it's time to tell us what is – and isn't – allowed when we're flying. Isn't that what in-flight announcements are for?
Christopher Elliott is an author, consumer advocate, and journalist. He founded Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps solve consumer problems. He publishes Elliott Confidential, a travel newsletter, and the Elliott Report, a news site about customer service. If you need help with a consumer problem, you can reach him here or email him at chris@elliott.org.