Despite widespread public opposition, a growing countercultural movement of travellers is defending the practice of going barefoot on planes, insisting that flying without shoes is a personal choice that harms no one.
The debate has intensified after several high-profile incidents, including one last October when Boston-based artist Ashley Eisenman filmed a man behind her propping his bare foot into the gap beside her seat for an entire hour-long flight, leaving it mere centimetres from her arm. "He 1000% should be on the no-fly list ASAP," she wrote after the incident.
Incidents from economy to first class
While a one-hour flight from Reno to San Francisco drew outrage, a nine-hour journey from Zurich to New York sparked even more disgust. Reddit user u/sarahfayejay posted a photo with the caption: "I have a 9-hour flight ahead of me."
The issue is not confined to economy class. The Instagram page Passenger Shaming shared a video of a woman lying on her back in first class, with both bare feet resting against the plane's wall.
Survey shows majority oppose bare feet
A 2018 Expedia survey of 18,000 travellers found that more than 90% said it is never okay to go barefoot on a plane, while a later 2023 Kayak-led review found that 76% of travellers "prefer their vision free of toes" on a flight.
Despite this, a vocal minority remains determined to fly unencumbered by socks. One Reddit user advised: "I think the trick, generally, is not ask for consent. Idk (I don't know) why you would anyway, but I've seen it done, and the answer was a negative. So don't ask, just go... Hopefully you won't get a Karen next to you who does the whole anti-barefeet on the plane shtick that is still doing the rounds..."
Strategies and airline policies
Another explained their method: "I wear a pair of flip-flops or light sandals that I put on when I enter the airport. I go through security in them and take them off while I'm in the terminal. When they announce my flight, I put them back on to go to the gate, board the plane with them on, and once I'm seated, I take them off until the end of my trip."
A third wrote: "I flew back home from Florida in January barefoot without incident. Except a young female TSA agent insistently asked two or three times 'Where are your shoes?' I told her that 'the government does not require me to wear shoes.' She let me pass."
While the US government may not require citizens to wear shoes, American, Delta, and United all explicitly reserve the right to refuse or remove barefoot passengers, though enforcement appears inconsistent. In the UK, none of the major airlines such as Ryanair, easyJet and Jet2 have rules specifically banning passengers from taking off their shoes.
Advocate defends barefoot travel
Kriss Sands, a no-shoes advocate whose blog Born to Live Barefoot details living without shoes, argues that a "passenger who chooses to travel barefoot on a plane is harming no one and should never be of anyone else's concern." He writes: "In general, as a full-time 24/7 barefooter, the only reason I would ever put on shoes would be when there is imminent danger of my feet being damaged or injured otherwise, such as extreme weather conditions, caustic chemicals, fire, or similar conditions."
According to Sands, it is only US airlines that specify being barefoot is against their terms of carriage. "I have not seen all foreign based airlines' contracts of carriage, but I have reviewed the ones from Aeroflot, Air Canada, Air France, Air New Zealand, British Airways, China Southern Airlines, Lufthansa, and Qantas. With the exception of Air Canada, none of these make any mention at all of bare feet or someone who is barefoot," he writes.
However, he says airports and planes are no places to argue with staff, given how seriously security is taken. From his experience, most staff will allow you to board and fly barefoot, so long as you're polite. Over a 20-year period, he took 114 flights without shoes on and was only asked to cover his feet eight times.
