I can’t imagine being stuck next to a babbling 15 year old girl literally 1.5 ft from my ear for six hours.
And no, noise cancelling headphones are not good enough to drown out conversation at this close a distance. And plenty of people get upgraded to first on parents miles such that first class carriage is no guarantee. Hopefully the market will sort this out and offer ‘quiet flights’ or fare classes.
Just wanted to add that middle-aged business men on corporate conference calls are among the worst offenders, as anyone who frequently takes the Acela can attest.
On one level it doesn't matter why we find it more annoying to overhear a phone call - we just do.
On another, psychology studies found "When trying to concentrate on a test, students found that overhearing someone talking on the phone was more intrusive than a two-sided conversation."
Talking to a seat mate stranger for several hours is far less common and the persons doing so are usually not literally in next seat inches from ones ear. I’ve also noticed people on phones tend to talk louder. Listening to music on a plane is nearly universally done through headphones.
And no, noise cancelling headphones are not good enough to drown out conversation at this close a distance. And plenty of people get upgraded to first on parents miles such that first class carriage is no guarantee. Hopefully the market will sort this out and offer ‘quiet flights’ or fare classes.