On average, 2.9 million passengers fly every day in and out of U.S. airports. But even though air travel has become so prevalent, it remains much more mysticized than, say, driving a car or riding a train.

I guess going 550 miles per hour (885 km/h) over 30,000 feet (9,000 meters) above ground comes with its fair share of mystery.

To dispel it, Reddit user BluPillow made a post on the platform, asking: “People who work in the airline industry, what are some things you think everyone should know about flying?”

Immediately, pilots, flight attendants, and other professionals started sending in their answers. Here’s what they wrote.

#1

Both pilots are equally qualified — the captain just has more responsibility and more experience (usually). We trade off who is flying and who is monitoring the radios every other flight (sometimes every two flights).

Image credits: FatalDeathShart

#2

The reason you are supposed to open your life vest outside the aircraft in case of an emergency ditching is so that you don’t float upwards while still inside the plane. This will trap you and increase your risk of drowning.

Always open them outside or immediately before you leave the aircraft, should you need to evacuate on water.

Image credits: DerSaftschubser

#3

Former pilot here — turbulence will break your nose or your neck before it knocks the plane out of the sky. Buckle up when the light is on and take comfort in the fact that turbulence hasn’t crashed a plane since the 1970s.

Image credits: FeelFreeToIgnoreThis

#4

Aircraft hit LOTS more birds than the 10 o’clock news reports and most never know when they do. Though we do have a very extensive inspection that we have to do when it happens. It is just not an issue and the Hudson River crash was a one in 10 million occasion. Flying is DEFINATELY the safest way to travel, statistically.

Image credits: Nutwinder

#5

We fly with broken s**t on the airplane all the time. We have a list that tells us what can be broken and still be able to fly safely and legally.

Image credits: FatalDeathShart

#6

Your tastebuds are reduced by 30-60% on flights. So more salt and seasoning are added to the food so it doesn’t seem bland. Might also be the reason so many crave tomato juice or bloody mary mix ONLY on planes.

The air in flight is drier than most of the deserts in the world, this impacts the taste of the food as well as your need to hydrate. Make sure you are drinking plenty of water on the long trans-oceanic or even transcontinental flights.

Flight attendant jumpseats are waaaaaay more uncomfortable than anything you are sitting on and are usually right by a stinky lav. So keep that in mind when you complain to a crew member about your seat. Jumpseats are about as comfy as those old plastic fold-up lawn chairs.

Image credits: Angelsunrise

#7

Flight attendant here. I think everyone should know or at least keep in mind that airline travel is difficult.

You and your fellow passenger can expect to have: Stress, An altered food schedule, Lack of sleep, Swelling, Dehydration, Discomfort, Confusion trying to figure out new things, Social anxiety, Changing ambient pressure, Loud noises, Nausea, Being hot or cold, Boredom.

Please remember your fellow passengers are traveling for various reasons. Hopefully it’s vacation but very frequently I run into people going to funerals, going to get medical treatments and commuting to work away from their families.

Everyone has a different story and many of us are having a rough day. onboard we all have the same goal. Get there quickly and safely. Including the staff. Have patience with each other and us.

Image credits: soggy544

#8

Alcohol has a greater effect on people at higher altitudes so know your limits and don’t push them. Even if you have had a drink in the airport it can still affect you during the flight. As flight crew, we do not care that it’s your holiday, birthday, stag party, hen party or that you are nervous, if you are drunk and behaving like a prick it will not be tolerated and you can be arrested get a ban from the airline. And because airlines share their ban passenger list you could find yourself banned from a few airlines.

Image credits: posh-old-bird

#9

No one is physically capable of opening the cabin door while in flight because of the aircraft pressurization. So take comfort in knowing that if a crazy person gets up and starts frantically trying to open the door in the middle of a flight, they’re not going to be able to do it at all. You could sit in your seat and watch them work on it for hours and it still won’t happen.

Image credits: EMPulseKC

#10

Not every landing is going to be smooth. Sometimes we purposefully land a little firmer. Just know that if it was a rough landing, the other pilot is making fun of the one who made the landing.

Image credits: FatalDeathShart

#11

There are no parachutes on commercial flights, so please stop asking. If the plane is going down there is nothing you can do but pray and ask forgiveness for your sins.

Image credits: Estbolbotkzn

#12

In most European airports, you can enter the business class security lane with any ticket, not just business. The code scans anyway.

Image credits: DerSaftschubser

#13

Interfering with the air crew is a felony. If you have grievances you can address them with the airline after you disembark.

Image credits: starfishy

#14

If you checked your Dog there’s about a 30% chance it’s terrified before it even gets on the plane, who knows how scared it gets during the actual flight. Bag room agents will usually try to comfort a scared animal, but all we can really do is talk to it, so if you write your pet’s name on their carrier it usually helps a lot.

I’ve never seen a cat who was scared in the bag room, cats don’t give a f**k.

Image credits: RabbitMix

#15

My husband was a plane mechanic for years and he says that flying is hands down safer than driving.

Image credits: vyletteriot

#16

As a pilot, I don’t know where baggage claim is, I don’t know where your next flight is, I don’t know where the Starbucks is, and often I don’t know why the flight is delayed. I also don’t know what lake we are flying over.

Image credits: FatalDeathShart

#17

Almost every commercial flight you ride-on has a dead body on board. Possibly 2 if you’re on a wide-body (large) aircraft.

Image credits: m_cake

#18

Jet mechanic here and you should avoid drinking coffee on the flight! Those tanks aren’t cleaned as often as they should be and when they do get cleaned, they get super cleaned with chemicals… NOT good! $6000 for the coffee maker that makes crap coffee! Just buy the Starbucks before you get on!

Image credits: Nutwinder

#19

Ladies, take your batteries out of your vibrators when you’re packing. It’s not going on the plane if it’s dancing all over the baggage conveyor, and the bigger the airport the more difficult it’ll be to find you so you can go in and deactivate it.

Image credits: bpanio

#20

I learned that flight attendants don’t get paid for the time before and after flights when doing a s**t ton of work to clean up and get people on/off, and frankly, I think that’s s**tty. We would never work before clocking in, why is it okay for them?

#21

Electronics do absolutely nothing to a plane. Your phone or iPad or laptop isn’t going to make the plane magically drop out of the sky. It’s not going to suddenly make the navigation system go offline. Planes have triple redundancy in EVERY system. Also, all of the sensitive electronics are so heavily shielded against the radiation that the atmosphere produces (which is several factors stronger than your iPhone) so you don’t have to worry.

Source: I’m an aerospace engineer and also the a**hole that texts from 35000 feet.

#22

When a plane is landing at night, they dim the interior lights incase you need to evacuate upon landing… your eyes are already adjusted to the darkness so you’ll be able to see better once outside the plane.

Image credits: bonestamp

#23

My dad’s been an airline pilot for almost 20 years, and apparently, planes get struck by lightning all the time. Also if a passenger is causing a scene in the jetway he can refuse to let them on and take off without them.

#24

Before being a prick to a flight attendant, keep in mind that their actual job is to save your life in an emergency. If I’m flying and know that there are 2 people who will make it a priority to keep me alive even if I’m unconscious, I’m going to make sure I’m on their good side. Just sayin..

#25

Not an airline worker, but when I sit down, during the safety lecture, I count the number of rows to an exit. If an evacuation is necessary, it’s a good number to know.

Image credits: PM_ME_YOUR_ATM_PIN

#26

there is only enough oxygen in the emergency tanks for approximately fifteen minutes. also, those tanks do not actually contain oxygen; they contain a substance (barium peroxide) which becomes oxygen when exposed to heat.

another interesting fact is that the bathrooms on airplanes do not actually lock. the metal sign which says “vacant” or “occupied” is actually a secondary latch. people can flip it up from the outside if necessary.

most interesting of all is that every airplane built since 1979 has had a special safe installed in the cockpit. the combination to this safe is only released to the pilot in the case of a reported and confirmed encounter with an alien spacecraft. nobody knows what is actually inside the safe, but many people have speculated that you should include a “serious” tag on questions like this.

Image credits: max

#27

Former Lufthansa cargo agent here.

Do not EVER drink water on an aircraft that did not come from a bottle. Don’t even TOUCH IT. The reason is the ports to purge lavatory s**t and refill the aircraft with potable water are within feet of each other and sometimes serviced all at once by the same guy. Not always, but if you’re not on the ramp watching, you’ll never know.

Image credits: gruntman

#28

We are there for your safety first, your drinks second.

Also: we don’t turn right back around after a 14 hour flight. How would that even work? I’ve been asked that so many times.

Image credits: DerSaftschubser

#29

Employees and their families get “ID tickets” (ID is for “industry discount”), which means they only pay taxes and fees and nothing for the actual ticket.

The airlines basically lets them fly for free. And not just with their own airline, but with every airline in any alliance. The tickets are stand-by tickets, so you’re not guaranteed to get on board, but you get a seat more often than not. The family members can travel on these tickets without the employee.

My dad worked for an airline in Star Alliance, so I used to get free tickets with airlines in One World and SkyTeam as well as Star Alliance. I usually traveled in business class, all around the world. A return trip between Europe and Japan was something like 200 USD in business class, and maybe 50 USD in economy.

I don’t get any perks anymore, as it was only valid until I turned 25.

#30

When you are seated, buckle your damn seatbelt. I don’t want you to be paralyzed because we hit turbulence and you smacked your head on the ceiling. So much paperwork.

Image credits: FatalDeathShart

#31

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 overhead 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.

#32

The air you breathe on an airplane is actually compressed air taken from the engines. A large portion (25% to 50%) is blown in the flight deck, the rest is for the passengers. The air leaves the airplane via a small hole in the back of the fuselage.

#33

We KNOW your kid doesn’t wanna get a peek in the cockpit, stop pushing that crying distressed child inside, dad.

Planes often get delayed due to missing their slots, especially during the busy months, chances are we’ve been sitting on board for a while too as such a flight can be our 3rd/4th leg of the day, we feel you, yet there’s nothing we can actually do about it. -FA.

Image credits: eliysa_tis1

#34

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.

#35

Every safety-critical system has dual redundancies designed into the system, and these two systems have to be designed in different ways too. Meaning the chance of both parts of the system failing, at the same time, in a safety-critical time, is literally next to impossible.

#36

Wear earplugs instead of trying to manage noise around you.

#37

People fake needing a wheelchair to gain boarding priority. 10 wheelchairs get on and only 1 person needs it getting off. We call um miracle flights.

#38

Don’t touch anything. It’s dirty.

#39

I only know two things.

There is a database that tracks every plane with damage that is still flying. I must have entered thousands.

when there is a crash, which is rare, every piece is collected if possible to understand what and why.

Worked at Boeing for a few years

#40

As pilots, we are just darn lazy. We focus our attention on finding ways to avoid anything becoming busy, rushed, or any time our capacity might be stretched.

We do everything for a simple life. Sometimes that means using the autopilot as much as we can. Sometimes it means manual flying and looking out the window.

Whilst some of us might secretly relish the opportunity to go off-piste and demonstrate our prowess as great aviators in adverse circumstances, no one wants a sweaty day. The imagery of seasoned sky gods wrestling with the controls are all well and good in the movies, but that’s exactly the sort of stuff we are determined to avoid. In fact, most of us are just plain boring.

Come say hi – either before after. Small kids and big ‘kids’ alike.

Image credits: Cvrk2

#41

The size of the airport doesn’t matter. Your flight in Watertown, NY still abides by the same departure schedules as JFK does.

#42

If you’re flying from a small airport, it may be convenient, but it’s also more limited on resources. That means if it delays, there’s not much to mitigate it. Could go on for quite some time.

#43

There is very little we can actually do to “make up time”. The longer the flight, the more we can do, but still, we’re talking 5-10 minutes, not an hour.

#44

Your bag is more likely to break flying on a narrow body. Especially 737’s. They don’t have containers so the ramp crew is most likely throwing your bags 30ft underneath the plane. Every bag gets thrown. The sorting system isn’t soft. Containers get filled by thrown bags.

Get a good bag and stop worrying.

Image credits: Jorelia

#45

Don’t make jokes about the pilot drinking. “Oh, didn’t I see you at the bar late last night hur hur hur”. We then (for safety and to make sure there is no doubt) will take a BAC test to show we are stone sober. It makes s**t unnecessarily difficult.

Image credits: FatalDeathShart

#46

Everything is expensive as hell! If you want your flights to be cheaper, take care of the aircraft while flying. The seat is rented by you, NOT owned! Just a simple tray table fix can cost $1000. The airline industry just passes the cost to the customer. Simple computers can cost tens of thousands of dollars. The FAA sticker of approval can triple, quadruple, or exponentially raise costs of things, hence the $6000 coffee maker.

Image credits: Nutwinder

#47

If it says fragile, it’s getting thrown harder. If it says this side up, it’s going to be upside down. We have to fit freight and 100+ bags in a cargo pit. It has to fit how it’s going to fit… I will tell you that when we see “I heart baggage handlers” bag tags… We take special care of your s**t

#48

If there are people who get deported (accompanied or unaccompanied) they are put in the last row of seats. If they are accompanied there will be some sort of air marshall sitting next to him. If they don’t pose a substantial threat they will be unaccompanied and look like regular passengers (the only thing is they usually enter through the back doors of the plane). So, if you’re sitting next to a sketchy person in the last row, it might be a deported criminal/refugee.

#49

I worked for the airlines for a few years. I’d sum it all up as:

Go to the bathroom BEFORE you get on the flight.

Get to your gate BEFORE your boarding time.

Nobody gives two s**ts that you want to be called “Doctor”. Doubly true if you’re a doctor of literature or some nonsense like that.

You can cancel a reservation on a U.S. flag carrier for free within 24 hours of booking, even if it’s “non-refundable”.

If you have kids, make them work at the airline. Date a flight attendant. Whatever it takes, but get those flight benefits. It’s amazing.

#50

Arm Rests – aisle and window seat: Run your hand along the underside of the armrest, just shy of the joint you’ll feel a button. Push it, and it will lift up. Adds a ton of room to the window seat and makes getting out of the aisle a helluva lot easier

#51

The captain has almost limitless authority when the doors are closed. He is allowed to arrest people, write fines, and even take the will of a dying passenger.

#52

Worked one preparing meals that go onto planes for a while. The reason why some things sometimes are or aren’t on a plane. EX: type of drink or a airlines doesn’t have the normal cookie/meal they have on a flight EX: United’s delicious white chocolate cranberry, this is never the airline’s fault this is ALWAYS the company (the big one that’s worldwide is LSG Sky Chef’s) fault. Either they ran out and substituted it or they can’t find the item in their large freezer.

#53

When you experience a hard landing in bad weather it wasn’t because of a lack of pilot skills but it is in fact intentional. If the runway is covered in water the airplane has to touch down hard in order to puncture the water layer and prevent aquaplaning.

#54

Passenger weighing in: If you have a musical instrument NEVER CHECK IT. Take it to the gate with you. If they don’t have room on the plane they can “gate check” it and put it on last. When you de-board on your next stop it will be waiting for you as soon as you exit the plane.

#55

I want people to put their names, addresses, and destinations on their luggage. If the tag comes off and you didn’t give any other info, we’re just relying on how well you remember the look and the contents and how well the person who ends up with your bag documents all that s**t.

#56

Bring an unopened bag or box of chocolates for the flight crew, especially on long flights…they’ll treat you like a king for the whole flight.

#57

Paramedic here. If you switch on your alarm lights on the ambulance while being on the inner field of the airport (because…well you just get there sometimes) they will totally shut down all incoming and outgoing flights until they know exactly what’s going on. My Buddy learned this the hard way. Needless to say people got mad at him…

#58

You don’t need to queue before passing through from the waiting room to the aircraft and you can also remain seated when you land. There is no way to exit that aircraft until everyone has exited before you…so you may as well remain seated.

#59

How to get upgraded:
Be a frequent flier, be dressed appropriately, be booked in a lower but oversold cabin and on a flight that has space available in a higher class. Usually in this case the airline will wear the cost of upgrading people to fit everyone on board. Other than that it’s costly to move people up for free because then there is no incentive to pay and no justification to keep business class in an aircraft which will likely make your ticket more expensive in the long run as business class seat revenue often subsidize economy seats.

#60

As a flight attendant, I am there for your safety! The reason we tell you to put your tray table up (it’s to make egress safer if it’s down you can’t get into your brave position for impact and slamming into the edge of the table during impact can seriously injure you), Is your bags under the seat (allows freedom of movement into the aisle), making sure your seatback is upright (makes it easier for the people behind you to evacuate and the seats are designed to absorb the force of a crash in the upright position, you can also slide under your seatbelt if your seat is reclined). In essence: we are preparing the cabin for a crash and evacuation.

#61

Being gone on a trip for 4 days seems like an eternity. A lot of missed time at home, with kids. When we get home we don’t want to talk about airplanes.

#62

Don’t put wine in a duffle bag. I used to work on the ground for a legacy carrier. Someone sat a duffle bag down on the concrete assuming nothing breakable…my hands smelled very good and the bin smelt better than typical but don’t put wine in a duffle bag.

Better yet just get a hard suitcase. Protect your stuff. Hardcover suitcases also fit inside the plane better and allow Ramp agents to load more quickly.

Avoid flying with an animal. Just drive. I know it is not always feasible and we would do our best to care for your pet but there’s only so much we can do and some people are a**holes.

#63

I’m not airline industry, but aviation manufacturing…80% of the people building them are questionably competent…..

#64

It’s an FAA regulation to have 1 flight attendant per 50 passengers. Just a neat fact, I’m an aircraft dispatcher for a major airline.

#65

Airline pilots generally aren’t paid well. A lot of them have difficulties keeping a positive balance and a lot of low-cost companies don’t even pay their pilots. Instead, the pilots have to pay the company a sum equivalent of 10.000 euro for every 1000 hours of flight experience. The low-cost companies reason that they provide young pilots with the experience they need to get hired at larger airlines and want to be paid for that.

#66

10 year airline customer service professional checking in. We are required by law to offer up to $1300.00 in a check if we involuntarily deny you boarding due to an overbooked flight. The offer for volunteers will always continue to go up. It is based on the fare you paid, and the amount of time it takes us to get you to your destination as opposed to when you would have arrived had you been able to take the flight you had purchased.

#67

The air inside the jet engine of an airplane is hotter than the melting point of any component of the engine.

#68

Don’t show up to the airport late, give airport staff and security your bulls**t attitude because you couldn’t be bothered to get there on time, and then get all offended when they give you your attitude right back to you. Seriously. F**k off with the entitlement.

#69

If you fly standby wear a suit not pajamas.

#70

Once those doors close to boarding your flight, they aren’t opening back up no matter who you are.

#71

Read the contract of the carriage!

#72

You should know airline employees are very dedicated people.

#73

It is NOT a right. It is a privilege.

Be kind, behave, or be gone.
Source: boredpanda.com