13 Things Flight Attendants Know That YOU DON’T!

Secrets flight attendants don’t tell passengers! Airplane secrets you won’t believe flight attendants never tell you

13. You can tip your flight attendant- Many people tip their waiter, taxi driver, and even the hotel bellman but what about flight attendants? While you most certainly can tip flight attendants, many airlines actually discourage tipping. Corey Caldwell, a spokesperson for the Association of Flight Attendants, says passengers shouldn’t tip flight attendants because just like firefighters, police officers and other professionals, it is their primary concern to maintain passengers security and safety. Others say that flight attendants go out of their way to provide excellent service and demonstrate patience to help passengers feel comfortable on board, so tipping is a way to show their appreciation. While many travelers assume flight attendants bring in a lot of money, that’s not always the case. Flight attendants can work a 12-hour shift but only get paid for the flight hours, and that doesn’t include deplaning or boarding either. So many people think dishing out a few bucks to your flight attendant won’t hurt.


12. Flight Turbulence- Flight Turbulence can be a scary thing to go through mid-flight. But if wondering why your pilot just doesn’t steer around it; it’s not always that simple. Clear air turbulence or CAT can’t be determined accurately for flights to be planned around it. The pilot will try to avoid CAT if they can since the only advance notice comes from other pilots traveling on the same route. However navigating around it doesn’t entail a smooth course either. CBS or cumulonimbus clouds can be avoided during flights, but it gets harder to do so when landing. As the plane approaches the airport, there is less altitude so it must be essential for the aircraft to be aligned with the runway five miles from touching base. But turning off course isn’t possible when landing if within the five-mile radius so if a CB cloud is in the way then sometimes landings are temporarily stopped to allow the CB to float away.

11. Beaten up and lost bags- Just because you wrote “fragile” or “handle with care” on your luggage doesn’t mean it’s tucked away nice and neatly on the plane. Checked luggage gets a beating which is literally why they call it “throwing bags” for a reason. In addition, luggage handles and wheels often crack or break on impact. Loose ends can get caught in the conveyor belt while it’s being loaded on causing tears in straps and zippers. Then there’s the pain of having your baggage lost. While employees may attest that it fell off the truck, the truth is sometimes the airport code is mistranslated. Your belongings might get placed on the wrong cart and wheeled to the wrong plane. But if your luggage winds up in a different destination, it won’t get shipped to you until it reaches the place it was scanned to go.

10. Sleeping Pilot- When it comes to being a pilot, long travel and flying can result in being on duty for 16 hours or even more without taking a break. Include the added stress of being in charge of hundreds of passengers while safely getting them to their destination and being away from your family for extended periods of time can affect your mental and physical health. On long flights, there are two pilots which are good. One pilot mans the controls and flight settings while the other one naps. While it might not be legal, naps are important to shake away the sleepiness. Despite it being illegal for pilots to take naps in the United States, controlled naps for pilots are legal in the United Kingdom. Although, I would much rather have my pilot take a quick thirty-minute nap to feel refreshed if it allows for them to be alert and aware the rest of the flight.

[elk]

What most air travelers fail to realize is that the guys that work in the baggage area, out of your sight, often throw your bags around to see if they can bust them open to see what's inside.

I once retrieved my wife from the airport only to get home and find out that her baggage had been ramsacked and apparently, because time is of the essence, they tossed everything back inside along with a scale from that airport, and on the plane it went.

I still have a heavy duty scale from the Baltimore airport and we did get those plane tickets refunded because I know how to negotiate.

[alicenieto]

I am a retired Flight Attendant and the statement about upgrading passengers to first class is Not true for all airlines. I worked for a major airline and we were absolutely not allowed to upgrade. Also our airline strongly discouraged accepting tips.

[roxiholcomb]

As a pilot myself, only two of these facts were true... Tips are appreciated if presented properly and long haul flights have extra crew so we can sleep.

[subvet]

if these are secrets, how do you know?

[deusexaethera]

#13: You can tip anyone. This isn't a secret.

[paulcooper]

Oh just for the tall and good looking to get an upgrade yeah theres no bias there yeah right.

[ollieee]

2:41 there has to be two pilots no matter what, on long haul flights where sleeping is required 3 or maybe 4 pilots are in the cockpit at one time. On short hall flights there is no resting but there still has to be 2 pilots in the cockpit unless 1 is at the bathroom for a short period of time. It annoys me when someone makes a video about aviation and then gets lots wrong. Please fix the errors thank you.

[eltigre]

Number 9, Flying Blind
They have a new invention called SUN GLASSES!

[AjaxFosterly]

At least they actually called it the ramp

[doodlegoose]

Actually there are usually 3 pilots on extended flights

[marwamudaber]

I knew that you can open the bathroom from outside

[BenignAndaHalf]

All were fine but the bathroom door thing. I understand the attendants need to be able to, but you just told all of YouTube how to just walk in on someone.

[onemercilessming]

ROFL--They want to be known as "professionals", but they're not above expecting tips. Well, you can't have it both ways. Either you are professionals (with the requisite educations and licensing that goes with being a professional--pilot, doctor, lawyer, teacher, dentist, social worker, etc.) or you're a glorified wait staff.

[brookshead]

Actually on long flights there are four pilots

[supmojo]

did anyone hear a cracking sound to the right at 5:20 ?

[Bacala]

I paid one in the 70’s to get me in the mile high club on my way to Rome.
You could also smoke back then.

[rickeysingh]

How she know the secret 😃 people always trust me with the secret, but who do i trust with mind

[coweatsman]

Never tip. It's encourages poor habits by corporations and workers. It's not up to me to pay the wages of someone else, especially if I have paid for the ticket as well. If tipping was wide spread in the airline industry the cabin crew would only ever give good service to first and business class. Not worth the pain of giving good service to economy when the rewards are not there.


Never tip. That goes for other industries like restaurants where employers have become slovenly, lazy, stingy and greedy by depending on the public to pay their workers. Tipping is really bad news.

[ch]

9
There are things called sun glasses.

[duygaonguyen]

So I can see that the flight attendant👩🏻