Do and Don'ts on the Airplane

VNwalking said:

Lots of good tips. Except this:

This is a pet peeve. I get a window seat to look out the window - it less claustrophobic, keeps my stomach happier, and I never tire of the view of the world from above. Having to close my window so people can gaze dumbly at their tiktok videos? Sorry. Just no.

Edit. I DO shut the shade when it's sleep time, but now they seem to want the shades down even at midday. Perhaps it keeps the mob pacified? I would hate to be a flight attendant now, with so many angry people.

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Yes I witnessed such anger last week from a very unreasonable passenger to a flight attendant who was trying to solve a problem that included people with physical disabilities. The selfishness of some people at the moment is extraordinary!

Moll1e said:

Yes I witnessed such anger last week from a very unreasonable passenger to a flight attendant who was trying to solve a problem that included people with physical disabilities. The selfishness of some people at the moment is extraordinary!

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Its not a new thing Moll1e, unfortunately. I was working for Customs at Sydney airport during the 2000 Olympics. It was a very busy time and to make things easier we had special clearance lines set up for the Paralympic athletes. I had a very aggressive and indignant passenger demand of me why 'those people' were getting special treatment. I was tempted to select him for some special treatment of his own, but professional standards won out.

I think that airplane travel is a huge challenge to many people. In my experience, airplane seats are generally uncomfortable, airplane food largely inedible, and human beings who are physically designed to get a certain amount of sleep each day are deprived of what is a bodily necessity. In addition, there are the many challenges of international travel to face at a time when one is exhausted and confused. The pandemic certainly made all this much worse, adding a new physical threat and confusing regulations to the usual mental and bodily stress. I am surprised that more travellers did not break down under these pressures, at least, on the planes on which I travelled.

Lindsay53 said:

Its not a new thing Moll1e, unfortunately. I was working for Customs at Sydney airport during the 2000 Olympics. It was a very busy time and to make things easier we had special clearance lines set up for the Paralympic athletes. I had a very aggressive and indignant passenger demand of me why 'those people' were getting special treatment. I was tempted to select him for some special treatment of his own, but professional standards won out.

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I arrived at Heathrow during the London Olympics when there was a similar arrangement in place, and joined the rather long queue of non-EU arrivals. As I was getting close to the immigration desks, a new surge of passengers entered the hall, and one couple at the front of this new planeload came down the lanes reserved for athletes and officials. As they did so, a large security officer of West Indian background placed himself at the exit point leading to the immigration counters. The whole arrivals hall went quiet as this officer asked this couple why they warranted special treatment in a voice loud enough for the whole arrivals hall to hear. He then kept them in conversation for long enough for all the passengers in that surge to join the regular queue, before 'suggesting' that they should return and join the rest of us. It was pure performance art - beautiful to watch the look on this couple's faces as they realised what had just transpired.

I have scrolled through all the posts. Yes, all these things do happen and I always appreciate the flight attendants. One aspect of flying - long or short haul (and I am Australian) that I find really annoying is when someone falls asleep and rests their head on your shoulder. Yes, it has happened a number of times. One of the worst flights I have had, luckily not a long haul flight, was being in the Middle seat between two fly in, fly out miners. The one on the right obviously hadn’t showered after his shift and the one on the left told me he would most likely snore. I answered that snoring I can deal with but if your head rests on my shoulder I will be pushing it off. No problems!