For many people, a holiday begins on boarding the plane, with the flight a chance to unwind and get into the spirit of things.
But spare a thought for the cabin crew whose job it is to look after all those excited, rowdy – and occasionally obnoxious – passengers.
In an eye-opening thread on Quora, frustrated flight attendants have revealed the most annoying things passengers do on planes – and most people are probably guilty of at least one.
Heavy petting, bad breath, and breaking wind emerged as the behaviour most likely to make flight attendants fed up.
Flight attendants have been revealing the most annoying things passengers do while in flight
One female flight attendant, Susan, who joined in the thread, urged passengers to bring a packet of mints or chewing gum onto long haul flights to avoid treating cabin crew to a blast of their morning breath.
She revealed it’s equally irksome when travellers fail to say hello or goodbye to staff when leaving and boarding flights, as it makes the crew feel ‘invisible’.
‘We are not robots, we are humans too,’ she said.
Another, male flight attendant said he finds it frustrating when people insist on talking through the safety demonstration, even if they’ve heard it before, as other people may not have.
Sarah, who worked as cabin crew, asked customers to bring breath minds on board so the staff don’t have to smell their morning breath
She also said that couples often put on very obvious public displays of affection in full view of the rest of the travelers
Richard, a retired cabin crew member, said he gets peeved when passengers unnecessarily press the call button to summon a member of staff.
He explained: ‘You aren’t the most important person on the plane and the FA’s (flight attendants) have other people to take care of. Unless you’re bleeding or having a heart attack, it’s not an emergency.’
Susan also complained about parents not taking control of their rowdy children during flights, and expecting the crew to look after them instead.
She said: ‘The crew are not nannies on board to run after the children. I lost count on how many times U seen parents sitting comfortably in their seats and let their kids run wild on the other end of the plane.
‘We’re not nannies’: Some flight attendants pointed out that crew are not there to look after passengers’ children
Ravish said that he didn’t like it when people were rude to the crew who are only trying to do their job
‘It is OK for children to take a walk on board, but with their parents – not alone [sic].’
Many of the people commenting on the thread said couples showing public displays of affection are a common occurrence – and that some take it way too far.
One, named as Rishi, recalled couples having ‘loud sex’ in the toilets on flights he’d been on.
Some passengers don’t even hide in the toilets, according to Susan, who said she’s had to ask customers to ‘keep the noise down’ while kissing and fondling in their seats.
Richard said that people shouldn’t talk during the safety briefings as other people might not know the instructions