Airline JetBlue issues an etiquette guide for uncouth passengers

A JetBlue flight was forced to land in South Dakota after being buffeted by turbulence (Reuters)

Anyone who has flown more than once in their life has a story about another passenger behaving badly, whether it’s someone who’s removed their shoes or who’s had one too many inflight cocktails and is berating the flight attendant.

It appears that JetBlue is just as sick of the ill-mannered fliers as are fellow passengers, as the company has released a couple of short, comical videos addressing bad behavior in the friendly skies.

The key takeaways from the Long Island City-based carrier's videos appear to be:

* If you're in a window seat and choose to drink like a fish, simply ask your neighbours if they'll let you out to use the lavatory. Don't climb over them, crawl under them, straddle them or make any other ridiculous attempt to reach the aisle.

* When sleeping on a flight, restrict yourself to the space within your armrests.

* Don't rest your head on your neighbour or attempt to occupy more space than you paid for.

OK, so the videos are more an example of how not to act than a guide to proper airline etiquette, but the point remains. No one wants to be a stranger’s pillow.

Here’s to hoping that JetBlue continues the etiquette series to include scenarios such as how to respond — or how not to respond — when the woman in 22A asks if Junior can sit on your lap because she was too cheap to buy her six-year-old a ticket. We’re guessing they won’t advise sticking him in the overhead bin.