A passenger on a plane calls out fellow flyers for a bad habit, and shares to fix the problem

A traveler has taken to social media to discuss why airline passengers don’t dispose of their trash properly – and share how to fix the problem.

Posted on the “r/SouthwestAirlines” forum, the note was titled, “Favorite tactic of people who put trash in seat pockets.”

The operator said he saw “an alarming number of people” not handing the trash to the flight crew to collect before landing.

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“While we’re waiting to get off, I’ll say, ‘Hey, I think you left your AirPods in the back pocket,’ forcing them to admit the trash,” the person wrote.

The user added, “4 times I’ve done this, 2 times when they took the trash, one time the guy said, ‘I don’t have AirPods,’ and the last guy said it wasn’t his job.”

“Just a suggestion with a 50% success rate so far,” the document said.

Fox News Digital reached out to Southwest Airlines for thoughts.

Users took to the comments section of the post to discuss the issue.

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“They should pass the garbage collection like they do the church fundraiser – for the same reason. Make people feel guilty for filling it as it goes by. Problem solved,” suggested another person.

“There will always be idiots/bullies/lowlifes who don’t care,” said another.

A Texas-based travel industry expert told Fox News Digital that trash often spills into the back pockets of airplanes and is left on the ground. (Stock)

That person added, “Often [it’s] the same people who will complain when they get on board and find lost trash.”

One Redditor commented, “Not me, but someone I used to work with … As I’m going to pick up the trash, the guy has a bunch of newspapers in his back pocket. ‘Hey, is that trash, or are you going to keep it?’ Him: ‘I will keep it.’

“Well, let’s go down, the boy is leaving the newspaper,” said the person.

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Continuing the story, the user wrote, “FA [flight attendant]fixing the plane now, he saw this, grabbed it all, boarded the jetway and passed the terminal, shouted, ‘WE FORGOT YOUR FLYER!! YOU SAY YOU WANT TO KEEP IT IT MUST BE IMPORTANT TO YOU!!’ he even caught the boy and gave him back his paper.’

“Very aggressive communication,” said one user.

Airlines “need to pass on trash collection like they do church collection – for the same reason. Make people feel guilty for filling it up as it goes by. Problem solved,” suggested one person on social media. (Stock)

Gary Leff, a Texas-based travel industry expert and author of the “View From the Wing” blog, told Fox News Digital that trash often spills into seat pockets and is left on the floor.

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“Increasingly, carriers are spending less time cleaning between flights. They don’t schedule flights with enough time on the ground to do it – and if a flight is late it’s one of the first things that gets cut,” said Leff.

“Self-cleaning is a basic starting point in society.”

It is important, he noted, that passengers at least pass their trash to the flight attendants as they go down the aisle to pick it up.

“Cleaning up is an important starting point for a community,” Leff said.

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“You need to do it in your seat on the plane, as long as the airline makes it easy, go down the aisle with a bag to collect the trash and give you enough time to collect it – and you need to do it in the movie theater too,” said Leff.

“You can just throw those popcorn bags on the floor,” Leff added. “Carry them to the bins where you come out. It’s only a few feet.”