10 Dark Truths About Airlines
#10: Unpaid Work
As you enter the cabin before takeoff, you’re greeted with a warm welcome from the flight attendants. And it’s not like they’re paid to be nice. In fact, many airlines don’t financially compensate cabin staff until the door closes. To make it worse, if there are delays during boarding and the door is open, there may be no payment for the attendants to make it bearable. Once the plane door opens at the destination, the clock stops once more for many. As such, they’re essentially cleaning the cabin for free! Many attendants do get incentives such as free hotel stays from airlines. But does that make up for the mean time rules? We’ll let you decide.
#9: Seat Shrink
If you’re old enough to remember the ‘80s, you might remember enjoying loads of space in your plane seat. But in recent times, that comfort has been drastically reduced. Previously, the seats’ width was 18.5 inches. Now, it’s down to 17 inches. To make it worse, the space between your chair and the one in front has reduced your legroom from 32 inches to 30 inches. The reason why airlines have made seats smaller is to squeeze more chairs on the planes. However, this could potentially harm people’s health due to restricted circulation. There were also concerns it could hinder passengers during an evacuation.
#8: Dark Dimming
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Have you ever noticed the lights in the cabin dimming as the plane takes off and lands, especially when it’s dark outside? Well, there’s an important reason this happens, and it isn’t to add dramatic flair. Instead, it’s down to prepare for a potential accident. Should there be an issue and the plane needs to do an emergency landing, the dimmed lights help the eyes adjust quicker for night-time vision. Usually, this process can take up to 30 minutes. The darkness also makes the emergency lighting more prominent. Both of these combined allow passengers to evacuate the jet more quickly.
#7: Lifted Life Jacket
When people go on vacation, getting a freebie souvenir is a temptation many can’t resist. But there are some things you shouldn’t take. For planes, that’s the life jackets that are placed underneath every seat. But some folk still do steal them. And it could have catastrophic consequences should the cabin staff not realize this as they clean after landing. Plus, should the stealing passenger be caught, they could get in legal trouble. An inebriated passenger took four life jackets during an England domestic flight in 2013. He was fined a total of £250, around USD$300. In 2015, a woman from China flying to Hong Kong was fined HK$2,000, around $260, for her theft. It’s just not worth it.
#6: Taking The Controls
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In action movies located on a plane, it’s pretty much a cliché that a passenger, who has no flight training whatsoever, will need to land the jet. But that’s just fiction, right? Nope. It’s happened several times. In 2022, departing the Bahamas to Florida, Darren Harrison had to fly his plane since the pilot was unable. In 2013, another passenger took the controls while flying without lights when needing to land at Humberside Airport in England. And in 2009, Doug White stepped into the aviation mantle in Florida when his pilot passed out. Each time, they were in contact with people through the radio who helped them safely get the bird on the ground.
#5: Tray Threat
The tray table is a vital piece of kit for a passenger on a plane to make the experience more bearable. Some folks even turn it into a makeshift pillow. But using it comes with a gross price. Due to cabin staff needing to get clean quickly for the next flight, sometimes the trays get missed. In one study from 2016, per square inch, a microbiologist found 2,155 colony-forming units on them. Meanwhile, the toilet flush button had only 265. Cabin staff have even spoken about seeing passengers changing their baby’s diapers on the tray. So they can be a hotbed for viruses and bugs. Probably best to keep a lot of anti-bac ready for your next flight.
#4: The Cost of Water
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We all love complimentary offerings. They can really make an experience enjoyable. But while the tea, coffee, and water on planes might have no financial charge, there could be one on your health. Numerous flight attendants have come forward online to warn people about them. According to Kat Kamalani, the water tanks and the coffee machines that heat the hot water are rarely cleaned. One 2019 study by the City University of New York and DietDetective.com found that out of 10 major airlines, 7 of them provided unclean water. Probably best to splash out on canned and bottled goods instead.
#3: Sleeping Safety
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As we’re soaring in the sky, we have complete faith in the trusted pilots in charge of everyone’s safety. So much so that we’ll often fall asleep. Well, the ones at the controls might be doing the exact same thing. In 2012, the pilot’s union BALPA disclosed that out of 500 people, 43% had accidentally fallen asleep at the wheel. To make it worse, a third of those people woke up to see the co-pilot catching some z’s, too. Another study by the European Cockpit Association conducted the same year found similar and alarming results. According to BALPA at the time, this sleep issue was down to the intense working hours exhausting the pilots.
#2: Limited Air
One of the first things the cabin staff shows you before takeoff is the safety measures on board. One of the highlights involves the oxygen mask. While rare, there are times when it’s necessary to use them. And you only have around 30 seconds to put them on before passing out. However, what they don’t mention is that the emergency air doesn’t last. The supply only lasts up to 12 to 20 minutes. Now, before you get too anxious, the pilots know about this. They have plenty of time to shift the jet to a safer altitude where the masks won’t be required.
#1: Under Covers
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While rare, there are times when someone passes away on a flight unexpectedly. Even though the cabin staff are often trained in CPR, sometimes, there’s nothing they can do. When this happens, if the airline doesn’t have a specific area for this, they’ll try and move the person to the back row. But if that’s not possible, the staff will check the body is strapped in, then cover them with a blanket for the duration of the flight. There’s also often a technicality that means no one perishes on a plane. Usually, there’s no one on board to call the time of passing. As such, they technically don’t expire until they’re back on land when a medical professional is present.
