20 Things Airlines Won’t Tell You About, Revealed by Flight Attendants In This Online Group

For the newcomers, traveling by plane feels like walking on thin ice. It feels like one wrong move and you’re gone. For the adept, it feels like you should know something that you don’t know about. Maybe you shouldn’t have touched something, maybe there is a better way to board the plane.  For the flight crew, however, there are things you should not know about.

#1

 

 

I dated a flight attendant for a while. One thing I haven’t seen mentioned is that sometimes delays are caused by Flight attendants not showing up and the airline scrambling to get a back-up scheduled. Like a flight attendant was partying too hard last night and decided to call off 2 hours before that $1500 cross ocean flight you just popped on.

She loved to party as did a lot of her coworkers and were often hungover or “out of it” on flights. Even though pay was s**t, their union made it very hard to get fired so call-offs were kind of no-big-deal.

Image source: tz100, Michael Duxbury

#2

I’m a flight attendant….
So many incidents occur on the plane that every day passengers don’t see or consider. My last flight an elderly man accidentally s**t on the floor, stepped in it, and walked on like it was nothing. DO NOT WALK AROUND BAREFOOT. Pee and poop happens, all over. I feel like I witness an “accident” regularly; in their seat or in the lav. People get nose bleeds, or their wounds open. Obviously when we land, it is thoroughly cleaned. But inflight our resources are limited.
DON’T CHANGE YOUR BABY’S DIAPER ON THE TRAY TABLE. This also happens all the time. It’s unsanitary and people use the tray table to eat, put their personal things on, etc.

Lastly, it is NOT the responsibility of a flight attendant to lift >your< bag. There are multiple injuries caused from flight attendants lifting heavy bags to be friendly, and then they’re out of the job for months to a year (on average). If you pack it, you lift it. If it’s too heavy for you, it’s too heavy for us.

Happy flying, ya’ll!

Image source: seeyou_never, wikimedia.commons

#3

 

If you p**s off the cabin crew they will fart on you. The pressure on aircraft makes you naturally gassy and it’s easy to puff one off in the face of an annoying git while bending down to speak to someone on the opposite side of the aisle.

Image source: penguinopusredux

#4

 

My late mom was a Delta “stewardess” for 33 years. She used to tell awesome PG stories, and I’m sure she had a hundred more that were unfit for my innocent ears. Like any kid, I never really paid attention, but most of the ones I remember were about famous and / or drunk people. Or famous drunk people.

One common story was about the Delta miracles. Passengers in wheelchairs would board the plane before everyone else, but they had to wait for everyone else to disembark before they could get rolled out. It is apparently common for people to be “healed” during mid flight and no longer need assistance when they reach their destination.

Image source: Nodeal_reddit

#5

 

I’m not a flight attendant but I work the ramp. To elaborate on the body parts we send full bodies on planes alot. Some in caskets some not. Twice in the 7 years I’ve been doing this has “fluid” leaked out of the boxes the bodies are in and got all over the luggage.

Image source: Legion3382, Patrick Campanale

#6

 

3 consecutive dings over the loud speaker means you’re probably going to die

Image source: paulwhiskie, Oscar Sutton

#7

 

 

Tray tables are rarely if ever sanitized do not put food directly on them.

Image source: dallenhill, wikimedia.commons

#8

 

 

Airplanes fly “broken” more often than not… Dated a chick who was a FA and had a brother that was a flight mechanic at Sky Harbor, in Phoenix. They told some crazy stories about planes that flew with stuff that may or may not have been functioning properly. The duct tape game is strong.

Image source: Squurrelly711, Avel Chuklanov

#9

As a former aviation journalist I can tell you a few things:

Yes, on trans-oceanic flights there is a cabin for crew to get some sleep. No, you won’t be invited in for fun times. On some newer planes there’s also a hold for people who have died on the flight. No, you won’t be invited in for fun times either.

If a meal service is on offer go for the kosher option, so you know it was prepared that day.

Image source: penguinopusredux, Suhyeon Choi

#10

 

If I tell the pilot ” I don’t feel safe with passenger in seat 35A” you can and most likely will be removed from the plane. So think twice before acting like a complete utter jackass on the plane. Standard jackass behavior is usually tolerated

Image source: dallenhill, ismail mohamed – SoviLe

#11

 

A flight attendant told me that in the event of a situation where passengers have to cover their heads you do not ‘lock’ your fingers over head but place one hand on top of the other. If something falls on your hand/head, you’ll still have one good hand to use.

Image source: DeviantOffspring

#12

There are sometimes body parts in the storage area near your luggage ( when they are flying transplants for hospitals). Also your pets are In the same area as well.

Image source: oh_sneezeus, Sebastian Grochowicz

#13

Count the seat backs to the closest exit. Good chance you won’t be able to see in some types of accidents.

Image source: wileybot

#14

An airplane can fly with one engine, and if an engine catches on fire, they have the means of extinguishing it while in air.

Image source: asamermaid, Lucas Davies

#15

Most U.S. based domestic F.A.’s are only paid from the time the doors close and the plane pushes off until the plane lands and the doors open. So if it takes 45 minutes to get everyone on board and seated…no pay

Image source: dallenhill, Lukas Souza

#16

Dated a former Air Hostess, the story that got me was when an old woman died on the plane, just fell asleep on the long-haul overnight flight back from JFK to Manchester and never woke up.

Essentially they wrapped her in spare blankets and secured extra seat belts around her to keep her in place… Nobody further down the plane knew a thing until they got asked to wait in their seats while an ambulance crew took the body off before they could disembark.

TL:DR – Passengers might *not* know someone died on the flight and is still in their seat!

Image source: anon, Hanson Lu

#17

Just started at an airline;

* There isn’t as much CCTV as you may think

* We can often be working 6 days in a row on minimum rest, treat us nicely please

* We have to ask the captain to remove you from the flight if you’re being an a*****e. They will say yes.

* Even on the smaller aircraft, crew will find a place to sleep.

* Someone has probably thrown up on the floor by your seat.

Image source: ICameHereToDrinkMilk

#18

 

Im flight coordinator, a lot of people dont realize, that when they make jokes like “I know this plane will crash” or “security check failed to spot bomb in my backpack” during boarding, it MUST be reported to guards which will have a little talk with them.

Image source: Big0addy, wikipedia.org

#19

If something was gonna go down and we had to evacuate, 99 times out of 100 it will happen during taxi, takeoff, and landing. So when I tell you to put up your tray tables and seats and get your bags under the seat in front of you, please just *do it*. You are compromising the safety of everyone around you if you don’t comply. And for the love of god please do not try to get up and use the lav during taxi or right before we take off! Most times we tell you things for everyone’s safety, not just cause it makes us feel good or something?? Please just comply the first time you are asked.

Image source: pastacelli

#20

Not a flight attendant but…

Everyone knows that you can lift arm rests between seats for cuddling or whatever but armrests next to the aisle don’t lift. Well, you can lift them. There is a button underneath that releases a catch so that you can lift the armrest. Useful for getting in and it while the food tray is down.

You can lock and unlock a lavatory door from the outside. The switch is under the metal plate next to the occupied sign.

Image source: eyal0, anspchee