11 AMAZING Airline Secrets You Didn’t Know!
#11.“Precious Time”- If the pressure in a plane’s cabin drops, the overhead oxygen
masks will either automatically be released from the overhead compartment or the flight
attendant will hopefully press the button to activate them.
Then you know the drill--put on your mask before assisting others.
Then you and your travel companions breathe in a limitless amount of oxygen and all is
well, right?
Well, as it turns out, those oxygen masks only provide enough air for an average of
15 minutes depending on the aircraft.
What may sound like not enough at time at first makes sense when you think that: A)
There isn’t that much room to store oxygen on a plane and still make them light enough
to accommodate you and your snazzy match luggage and B)
the pilots are trained in situations where the cabin loses pressure to immediately dive
to an altitude where there is enough air to breath.
Of course this may be more difficult if you are flying over the Himalayas, in that case,
make sure you practice holding your breath once a day and bring your skis.
Also, when oxygen masks first drop it is not only oxygen that you will inhale, as it takes
time for the two chemicals used to create the oxygen to work their magic.
This process also produces the smell like that of something burning so don’t be alarmed--the
plane is probably not on fire.
#10.“Duration Inflation”- If your pilot ever brags about arriving to your destination,
wait until the plane is safely on the ground, and then call him a liar!
What he really should’ve said was that the plane was on time.
You see, airline companies for years have been exploiting our lack of knowledge about
flight travel.
Who has time to sit down and calculate the relationship between the plane’s acceleration
due to gravity, launch angle and initial velocity to get a real flight time when we are busy
worrying about the awkward conversations with our relatives that await us at our destination?
The airline companies smartly embellish the flight duration on our tickets, in a practice
called ‘schedule padding’ in order to compensate for any delays like those caused
by almost forgetting to fill the fuel tank or exterminating gremlins hiding in the wheel
wells.
This might sound ridiculous, but sometimes when a plane is notably delayed, the airline
companies will flat out lie about what caused it in order to keep the peace, so you never
really know if it was due to inclement weather or a pilot forgetting to set his alarm.
Even so, when your flight is quote unquote ‘early’ it still is a nice feeling so
we will look the other way, even though it’s corporate psychological trickery.
#9.“All-Powerful Pilot”-An airplane in midflight is kind of like its own nation,
so who do the people turn to as their El Presidente in times of turmoil or crisis?
Why, the Captain of course.
Given that the Captain helms the ship and is the leader of the crew, his position comes
with several special authorizations when the plane is in the air.
The pilot in command can order any passenger or crew member to be handcuffed or restrained
until the police take over on landing.
They can violate any regulations set by the Federal Aviation Administration or ignore
the suggestions of Air Traffic Control, if they deem it necessary and can justify their
actions once grounded.
Their powers also allow them to fine people for misconduct or take down the will of a
dying passenger.
#8.“Waste Water”-Have you ever seen a flight attendant drinking the in-flight coffee
or tea?
No?
Well this is because they know something you don’t.
The tap water on a plane is often chock full of nasty bacteria.
This is due to the fact that the tanks that hold the water are very difficult to fully
clean and aren’t required to be very often.
Also the hoses that are used to pump out waste from the bathroom are sometimes used interchangeably
as the ports for the water and waste tanks are very close to each other.
The tanks are bleached regularly and the odds of a crew member switching up the hoses isn’t
common, but the percentage of bacteria in airplane water commonly exceeds water from
our taps at home by a substantial margin.
This only adds strength to the argument that people who brush their teeth on a plane are
strange.
#7.“Runway Compass”- If you have ever been looking out the window of a plane watching
the numbers on the runway go whizzing by and started to panic because of the seeming random
nature of them or thinking to yourself that you are glad you aren’t the one flying the
plane because you can’t make heads or tails of the markings.
You will now learn the elusive secret!
It turns out that these numbers are actually made to be very easy to interpret for the
pilots and are quite simple for even people who aren’t in the field of aviation.
These numbers actually are each correspond to a degree on a compass and number from 1
to 36 for every 10 of the 360 degrees.
The pilots use these number to make sure they are heading down the right runway and relay
that info to air traffic control who make sure no one else is coming in the opposite
direction.
Speaking of which, as most runways can be used in either direction they typically have
two numbers on them, symbolizing the degrees away from north they are.
For example, if they are traveling on a runway that goes exactly east and west the runway
will feature the numbers 9 for west and 27 for east.
If this compass talk still has your head spinning at least you can rest assured that you now
know you weren’t cut out to be pilot
#6.
“Tarmac Shmarmac”- You hear the word tarmac a lot in the news when reporters are generalizing
about the part of an airport the runway (where the planes take off), the taxiway (the path
leading to the runway) or the apron (where planes dock) but the fact is this term means
nothing in aviation terms.
If you were to call it a tarmac to a pilot you would most assuredly be made fun of behind
your back.
So where do we get the term tarmac?
Well it is actually a shortened version of the word tarmacadam which which was a material
that at the turn of the 20th century was frequently used for paving roads.
It was initially used for the paving of runways but as planes got bigger it could no longer
withstand their immense weight.
The origin of using the word to describe the runway and apron areas probably got started
from the fact the in the United Kingdom tarmac is a word commonly used to describe any kind
of asphalt, just as the word Kleenex is slang for tissues in some places.
So someone probably reported about an incident on the asphalt at a runway, leading it to
be misinterpreted thereafter as meaning the entire airplane playground.
#5.“In the Dark”-If you have been flying at night and thought that the airplane’s
lights were dimmed in order for you to catch some shut eye, think again.
The dimming of the cabin’s light actually has a more functional purpose than helping
you dream away your taxing time spent in airborne confinement.
It is to help you survive an emergency situation.
If the lights were fully-on in the event of a crash landing it would be difficult for
you too see if power was lost on the plane or you were outside.
So airlines have taken the precautionary measure to dim the lights so that this adjustment
would be much quicker.
This can be crucial in helping you see the sharks that circle a watery wreckage or the
hungry hyenas prowling about when your flight over Uganda goes down.
#4.“Jacket Snatchers”- You might not be checking for one of the biggest items that
can be vital to surviving an airplane crash, but you really should start.
One of the first things a person should do after marking your armrest territory is to
check under their seat to make sure that there is in in fact a lifejacket where it is supposed
to be.
Why?
Because they have a tendency to be taken as souvenirs by people who were on the flight
ahead of you.
If it shocks you that someone would dare to steal something that could save someone’s
life, welcome to thoughtful world we live in.
In defense of the indefensible, most people don’t know that the flight crew doesn’t
go seat by seat and double check the lifejackets.
This is usually difficult because there is a quick turnaround before the next flight,
though we wouldn’t mind them taking the extra time.
In 2014, a man named Benjamin Wenzl was arrested after a flight attendant spotted him shoving
two life jackets into his carry-on.
Wenzl had planned to take the jackets home as prank gifts for his friends but luckily
was apprehended before he could risk someone’s life for a giggle.
Unfortunately, most life jacket thieves aren’t caught, so make sure you let someone know
immediately if yours is missing.
#3.“Looks Fine To Me”-Another scary effect of planes having quick turnarounds between
departures and arrivals is that the flight crew doesn’t have time to clean anything.
Though they clean the bathrooms after every flight the attendants aren’t required to
wipe down tray tables or clean the blankets and pillows that were used the flight before.
Most airlines only require their crews to do this before the first flight of a day.
This means that the tray table you are eating on may have been used only minutes earlier
to change a diaper chock full of messy infant fecal matter.
That blanket and pillow you are snuggling up with?
May have just been the cuddle buddy for a drooly flu-filled flier.
Though the headphones they pass out come in plastic packages, those too are frequently
recycled without being sterilized.
So, you’re ears could become home to someone else’s wax.
Though these fictional scenarios are extreme examples, it goes without saying that you
should probably always fly with baby wipes and hand sanitizer.
#2.“Latrine Latch”-You may have asked yourself what happens if someone get injured
in an airplane bathroom or what if your child needs assistance but can’t open the inside
lock.
Well these questions have a simple answer that not many people know about.
It turns out that there is a secret latch on the outside of the bathroom door that can
unlock them from the outside.
On most airplanes this latch or knob is hidden under the sign that says ‘lavatory’ so
that only attendants know how to access it.
So those of you trying to sneak off and enjoy a quick smoke or like to overstay your welcome
in, as Jerry Seinfeld puts it, “your own personal apartment on the plane” be forewarned,
these commodes aren’t as sacred as your own.
#1.“We Don’t Need No Stinking Vouchers”-If you have ever been through a flight delay
that seemed never-ending the reward of receiving a flight voucher from the airline seems like
a slap in the face to the compensation you probably deserved.
A lot of the time you may plan on using the voucher for a future trip that may well never
even come, so the hours of agony you spent listening to them push back the flight time
30 minutes 15 times or having to sustain your life force with $12 cinnabons, was all for
nothing.
But there is a way you can at least be instantly satisfied or make sure that you are given
justly amends.
You can eschew the notion of the voucher and demand cold hard cash--well actually a check---but
still.
The airline has to accommodate this request and if they say they can’t they are either
lying or unaware of the regulations.
In fact, depending on how long you were delayed and the ramifications of the lateness you
can receive up to $1200 right then and there, which most likely is more than whatever silly
piece of paper they snidely apologize with.
Also, if you ever find yourself in a situation where the airline loses your bags or they
are delayed by being on another flight you can be compensated upwards of $3,000 dollars
on a domestic flight and half of that if you were flying international.
Of course this depends on each individual circumstance and how long your possessions
were delayed.
But, if the items in your bag were time sensitive or not having them was extremely detrimental
to your trip you could deserve the maximum payout.
What’s the worst experience you’ve ever had on an airplane?