United Airlines has rewritten elements of its contract of carriage policy to reduce noise pollution in its cabins without limiting the use of personal electronics.
The airline now requires all passengers to wear headphones when listening to a device. It also reserves the right to remove passengers from the aircraft who refuse to abide by the rule, and possibly ban them from flying United.
Passengers watching videos or movies, scrolling social media feeds with sound or listening to music are required to wear headphones, the updated policy states under its Refusal of Transport section.
Get daily National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
United is the first major U.S. carrier to implement a legally binding rule pertaining to headphone use on planes.
The airline “has the right to refuse transport, on a permanent basis,” to anyone who violates this and a number of other circumstances, including when passengers fail to comply with or interfere with the duties of the members of the flight crew, passengers who assault any employee, passengers who are barefoot, not properly clothed, or whose clothing is lewd, obscene or offensive and passengers who appear to be intoxicated or under the influence of drugs, the contract of carriage document says.
Scott Keyes, a travel expert, told CBS News he was unaware of any other major airline adopting a mandatory headphone rule. Other airlines encourage flyers to wear headphones, though none explicitly say that failing to do so could end in removal from the aircraft or a total airline ban.
“This is in line with how the vast majority of travellers comport themselves and would like others to comport themselves,” Keyes told the U.S. outlet. “It’s usually only a small number of folks on airplanes who are making noise by not using headphones, so this is a graceful way to handle those folks.”
United’s website says it will, in some instances, provide customers without headphones with a free pair.
Major Canadian airlines Air Canada, Air Transat and WestJet do not outline specific rules requiring the use of headphones, and when contacted by Global News did not provide a response.
According to the Canadian Transportation Agency, airlines have certain minimum obligations if they deny a passenger boarding, and their responsibilities depend on whether the reason they refuse a passenger is within their control, within their control but required for safety or outside of their control.
Common reasons for being denied boarding include overbooking, a change of aircraft type, mechanical issues or safety concerns related to the aircraft and seat malfunctions.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.