To paraphrase a famous superhero, flying is, statistically speaking, the safest way to travel. It is, of course, also one of the more expensive modes of transportation available to travelers. And yes, if you’ve rolled a suitcase into an airport any time in the past couple of decades, you know travelers are required to adhere to dozens of rules and regulations before they board a plane, and even more while they’re up in the air.

Most of those rules are put in place by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the government agencies tasked with overseeing and regulating transportation and civil aviation in the United States, respectively. Apart from the myriad rules drawn up by those factions, many major airlines have added to the list with regulations that their passengers must adhere to in-flight, and yes, you agree to those terms anytime you buy a ticket by way of a “contract of carriage.”

United Airlines just added a pretty major new rule to its CoC that requires all passengers to use headphones when enjoying content with audio from a personal device like a laptop, tablet, or mobile phone. The rule is intended to limit environmental noise in the plane’s cabin, thereby ensuring a more pleasurable flight for both passengers and crew. Still, you may be surprised just how far United is threatening to go in punishing those who refuse to adhere.  

If you’ve ever been seated near someone who isn’t using headphones (which is one of the necessary in-flight gadgets) while watching a movie, listening to music, or even scrolling through social media in flight, you no doubt agree that United’s new headphones rule is one that’s very much worth enforcing. In fact, many other airlines already have similar policies in their own contracts of carriage. Even still, none of those policies are quite as severe as United’s, with the airline’s new CoC amendment stating that failure to adhere to the headphones rule could ultimately result in your removal from the flight.

That CoC goes on to state that not only might you be removed from the flight you’re on if you refuse to use headphones, but you may also be permanently banned from flying with United Airlines. As travel expert Scott Keyes told CBS, United is the first major airline to take such a hardline stance on the matter of headphones, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see its competitors quickly adopt similar policies.

Interestingly enough, it is not made entirely clear just how far United is prepared to go in enforcing the rule. For instance, it would be relatively easy to remove a passenger from the plane prior to takeoff. It’s much harder to imagine that United would go so far as to land a plane mid-flight to the same end. But perhaps that is where the threat of a permanent ban comes into play. Only time will tell.