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Have you ever wondered if airlines have any secrets they keep from passengers? Well, if you have, you're in luck because this Reddit user asked airline employees just that, and they delivered great and kind of concerning answers. Apparently, airlines hide more things than you would think: from not tracking aircraft movements to airplanes still flying with parts missing.
With so many people flying planes these days, it's quite crazy to think that these facts are not well known. However, if people were aware of them, most would probably choose other travel options. These stories might freak you out, even if you're not a nervous flyer.
So if you're interested to learn more about aircraft, airports, and the weirdest airline secrets being kept from you, keep scrolling! And if these are not enough, check out the previous article we did on this topic here.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
If you checked your Dog there's about a 30% chance it's terrified before it even gets on the plane, who knows how scared it gets during the actual flight. Bag room agents will usually try to comfort a scared animal, but all we can really do is talk to it, so if you write your pet's name on their carrier it usually helps a lot.
I've never seen a cat who was scared in the bag room, cats don't give a f**k.
Richard Campbell 2 years ago
Cats manifest their emotions differently than dogs. Just because they may not be visibly freaking out doesn’t mean they ‘don’t give a f**k’. What a silly thing to say
RELATED:
#2
Not a secret, just common sense; the reason some bags miss their flight or get misrouted is because passengers don't remove old tags. It confuses handlers as well as the conveyor belt scanners. I see it happen all the time.
#3
If you're European you have really, really good consumer protection against delays, cancellations etc.
If you're more than three hours late, your compensation starts at 250 euros, and goes up depending on the length of your flight and the length of the delay.
When I went to London a few years ago, my flight was overbooked, so I got bumped to a flight fours hours later. The compensation I got was more than the ticket I bought...round trip.
Headless Roach 2 years ago
Recently I had a return flight from EU to SE Asia completely refunded due to delays.
#4
People fake needing a wheel chair to gain boarding priority. 10 wheelchairs get on and olny 1 person needs it getting off. We call um miracle flights.
Brenda Spagnola-Wilson 2 years ago (edited)
I'm disabled. One time there were no available wheelchairs. I'm trying to walk and suddenly a worker runs up with a chair for me. Said he took it after seeing who had it was using it to push their luggage
#5
If you check a skateboard by just slapping a sticker on it, it will get ridden or used as a dolly.
#6
My partner worked for Delta for about 4 years as one of the guys who loads and unloads your luggage and waves wands. Nothing is safe in those bags. They pop open all the time and your s**t just gets haphazardly shoved back in. They get tossed around like volleyballs. TSA is a lie. A lot of decisions about boarding or switching flights, ect., are at employees discretion.
Brenda Spagnola-Wilson 2 years ago
Used to actually tie up my bags with cord so that they wouldn't open
#7
Sometimes your pilot can be on food stamps because they only make 19k/yr.
Baggage handlers see hundreds of bags a day. No bag is treated special, unless it is OBVIOUS. Even then, depending on the person, sometimes they're not (which is rare). Bags are not intentionally harmed. They are, however, intentionally thrown, slid, jostled, stacked under hundreds of pounds of other bags, and exposed to the elements because that is the nature of the job. You can safely assume that your bag is touched and handled by at least 7-8 people, per flight segment, if you are connecting, at least 10 different people, not including TSA.
Sometimes, the vehicle that fills the potable water for washing hands and making coffee is parked next to the vehicle that is used to dump the shitters and fill the blue juice for the lavs. They're not supposed to. Sometimes, they're parked at a distance from each other, which is policy, yet the guy who is filling the water is using gloves that he hasn't changed in over 2 years.
The most power you could
probably wield is twitter. The employee in front of you has so little power to actually remedy tough situations. Baggage handlers are usually short staffed. As well, customer service agents are usually limited in their options. Also, it would help us get a message to higher ups because our work is not being supported as it should be. Hell, I'd even recommend asking an employee about the problem and say something like, "if I were to take my complaint to twitter, how could I phrase it in a way that would help you too?"
You get more customer protections buying directly from the airline. All those third party travel sites are owned by the same company, and you lose a lot of the rights afforded to you in the airlines contract of carriage.
If you're nice to people, they'll be nice back to you.
#8
That there's a huge list of things that can be missing from the aircraft while still being allowed to fly.
#9
I am a gate agent for a large airline.
1 there's very little I know that I don't share with passengers during a delay. If the crew tells me the maintenance issue, I'll pass that on. I'm not hiding information from you.
2 I do fly for free, a lot. I know the major airports very well. So when you come up to my podium and argue with me that the 1/2 hour connection you booked yourself isn't going to be long enough I'm going to roll my eyes and explain that yes, yes it is. If you want time to leisurely enjoy an airport, book flights with longer connections.
3 The FAA/DOT are up the airlines asses about everything, from the handling of passengers with disabilities to how many delays we have. For this reason we take extra precautions to not have any violations, some of which I can be held personally responsible for
4 EVERYONE ON THE PLANE ARRIVES AT THE SAME TIME. SEATS ARE ASSIGNED. SO WHY ON GODS GREEN EARTH ARE YOU ALL CROWDING THE PODIUM TAKE A FREAKING STEP BACK. seriously. if you're worried about getting a space for your carry-on stop packing your carry on so full! If it doesn't fit due to bins being full I'll check it through for free
5 yes the ramp crew in the jet bridge are checking you out. they're usually nice guys/gals. you could do worse.
edit: formatting
Brenda Spagnola-Wilson 2 years ago
Being disabled, I have to say I've never had a problem. In fact, most people have been extremely helpful, even going out of their way to make it easier for me. And I DO write down names so I can let higher-ups know
#10
The coffee is absolutely disgusting because the no one washes the container that goes out every morning. The station agents who get paid way too little don't give a s**t about cleaning it. I certainly didn't when I worked for AA.
Also, because we weren't given the proper supplies to clean it. We pretty much just rinsed it out and dumped coffee into it.
Be nice to the ticket agent and they will pretty much always let you get away with overweight bags. If you were funny, I'd even not charge you for bags.
Brenda Spagnola-Wilson 2 years ago
Was flying an El cheapo airline once to my grandmother's funeral. I live in Texas, funeral was in NJ. Don't have a lot of warm clothes, but they were going to charge me for my 1 bag,like $50. Started shoving things in my carry on and putting on what I could. They called a supervisor who saw me crying. She waived the bag fee and even upgraded my seat. Deborah, you made a bad time so much better
#11
Airlines doesn't charge large or overweight people extra because they make the plane heavier, or because they hate fat people or whatever.
They do it because you are a security risk.
Jessi Lovely 2 years ago
I don’t know how charging extra makes it safer for other passengers, but m’kay
#12
OK, here goes!
1. Don't pack your bags so full that they're round. Not only because the zipper will pop, but also because sometimes they roll off the belt loader right onto the tarmac.
2. really slick hard sided bags tend to fly off of the "stack" in the "pit" when the plane lands, sending your bag flying 80mph into a wall of the pit. Wonder how your wheel got broken? Fabric bags are better, because friction.
3. speaking of which, we don't cover broken handles, zippers, or wheels.
4. we learn which bags suck and which bags don't. Dakine and Osprey are some of the best. Louis Vuitton bags break just like anything else. Look for bags with recessed wheels. Also look for bags with side handles that are easy for a gloved hand to grab, and your bag will get treated better than ones that don't.
5. Rolling duffle bags are annoying. They roll down the belt loader on their own, often either onto the tarmac or right into a ramper's crotch.
6. If you miss your flight, we don't have to rebook you, but we do as a courtesy. If you come back within 2 hours we'll put you on the next available flight. This is called the flat tire rule.
7. Cargo is more important than you. We will take passengers off before cargo. Most of our cargo is important medical stuff.
8. Many of us work part time, just for the flight benefits, and are smart, successful people with businesses, degrees, etc who just want to travel for free. So don't treat us like a moron (even though we're getting paid barely more than minimum wage).
9. we didn't lose your bag. we are just taking your bag claim for you.
10. If you wait to check in, you're more likely to get an upgraded seat when you check in last minute, because likely only upgraded seats that nobody wants to pay for are available. You also run the risk of not getting a seat at all though if it's an oversold flight.
11. We really can't tell you if your 97 year old grandmother is on the flight or not. We can't disclose anything about the manifest.
12. We can't control the weather. We wish we could. We know you PAID FOR YOUR TICKET and you HAVE TO BE ON THIS FLIGHT, but the category 5 hurricane says otherwise.
13. Your pilot might be getting paid less than an elementary school bus driver. For real.
14. Only drink coffee on aircraft that have the coffee maker on board. Otherwise it's questionable.
CatchTheWind 2 years ago
Even those who aren't "smart, successful people with businesses, degrees, etc." aren't morons and don't deserve to be treated like they are.
#13
Employees and their families get "ID tickets" (ID is for "industry discount"), which means they only pay taxes and fees and nothing for the actual ticket.
The airlines basically lets them fly for free. And not just with their own airline, but with every airline in any alliance. The tickets are stand-by tickets, so you're not guaranteed to get on board, but you get a seat more often than not. The family members can travel on these tickets without the employee.
My dad worked for an airline in Star Alliance, so I used to get free tickets with airlines in One World and SkyTeam as well as Star Alliance. I usually traveled in business class, all around the world. A return trip between Europe and Japan was something like 200 USD in business class, and maybe 50 USD in economy.
I don't get any perks anymore, as it was only valid until I turned 25.
#14
This one is pretty much on its way out as a 'secret' nowadays, but: There really is no good reason passengers need to switch off mobile devices during takeoff and landing.
The frequencies used combined with the lack of signal power in the antennae of consumer grade mobile devices means there is 0% chance of them ever interfering with the plane's sensors and instruments in any way whatsoever.
This has been tested ad nauseam since the beginning of aviation/mobile communication technology, and it has NEVER shown to be a problem.
Firstname Lastname 2 years ago
Mayhaps if they are off, you are less distracted and can focus more on applauding the pilot's skills. Could be an ego thing. /s
#15
I work Revenue Management for an airline. On average, the cheapest time to BUY a ticket is Tuesday afternoon. The cheapest time to FLY is Tuesday, Wednesday, or Saturday. This applies to US flights in my experience.
#16
You know how all the other armrests can be raised except for the one next to the aisle?
Turns out that one can be raised as well via a small button in a divot on the underside of the armrest. Useful if you want to spread out a bit more, though some flight attendants may tell you to put it back in place.
Oncinw 2 years ago (edited)
Being a cabin crew I broke a lot of nails doing it for passengers with reduced mobility. 😂 So it is possible to raise it up, but it takes some effort: at least on Airbus I am flying with it's not a button, but an in-built switch, you need to put your finger inside a hole and slide a switch, using some force as sometimes a switch can get stuck. And yes, we can ask you to put it down for: take-off, landing, or emergency situation. But never during a flight. So use it if you need it, just be careful to not get injured ☺️
#17
Flight attendants have a list of who is who and what seat they are in. As well as what level of frequent flyer they happen to be. Or if they are employees or family and friends tickets. This is why you will see them being rude to someone or bending over backwards for jerks.
Flights are routinely overbooked because there's a estimate per route of what percentage of people tend to miss the flight. So if you don't have a seat assignment, you might not get on. Which is why they ask for volunteers. If you are a frequent flyer and know the busy times and flights you could volunteer all day from every flight going to a hub and make $1,000 in credit.
Invest in quality luggage. You are the only one that handles your bag with care. Your bag is going to take a beating in the system.
Edit: Wow this got a lot of attention. Yes I know Southwest FAs don't have a list of who is sitting where. Obviously. I have to say to any redditors out there, if you get a chance to work for an airline, take it! It was a great experience in my early 20s. Even while going to college on my days off, I was also able to fly around the world for free. I can't recommend it enough. Sure there are plenty of bad experiences like getting yelled at all day long by irrational and irate passengers whose flight you just cancelled after you had them wait for hours. Or dumping the lav on a windy day. Or knowing you're walking into a very bad day of work just because the weather is bad in your city or wherever your flights are coming from. They pay isn't great but if you enjoy traveling, work for an airline!
Kathryn Baylis 2 years ago (edited)
Yes, flight attendants have a list of passengers and their seat assignments. Some people try to take other people’s seats, and they have to be sure everyone who booked a seat has boarded. Warning! Next part is a bit gruesome: Not to mention that verifying seat assignments means if there’s a crash, your remains can be identified and sent to your family to bury you. You wouldn’t want them to receive someone else’s remains, would you?
#18
On larger aircraft, there are secret compartments where your cabin crew and flight crew are able to get much needed rest. [This is the flight crew rest on a Boeing 777 and it's located above the ceiling of the first class cabin.](http://i.imgur.com/vDBMa0s.jpg) There are two beds behind the seats as well as [personal entertainment screens for each seat.](http://imgur.com/LcRRLDJ) [This the the cabin crew rest of a Boeing 787 located above the economy class.](http://imgur.com/pG7n4eu) Older Boeing aircraft have crew rest areas within the passenger cabin and I've been told some Airbuses have crew rests under the floor.
Two_rolling_black_eyes 2 years ago
This is necessary for longer flights. Its 19 hours from Singapore to NYC. Its flat out illegal for the same pilot to fly the entire time (a two pilot team is allowed to fly 10 hours) and its stupid to expect a flight attendant to remain vigilant the entire trip without any rest.
#19
Αerospace fastener production here. Nobody еver asks what is actually holding thе plane together. Don't worry аbout it.
#20
I'm an outstation mechanic for multiple airlines. I cover all flights at a major US city airport--by myself. Where to start? If your flight has a maintenance delay and there is no on station mechanics for that carrier I get called. If it's a quick fix, I fix it. If not we check to see if it can be deferred to get fixed later. Either way, most of your delay is spent waiting on me to do all the paperwork to clear the aircraft or for me to finish the other seven calls I'm out on to get to your plane. There is also constant pressure on both me and the pilots to clear/fly aircraft that have some fairly significant problems. I have airlines try to get me to sell some pretty sketchy stuff to the pilots to get them to fly and avoid a costly delay. I have no problems telling a pilot to call his controllers/dispatchers and tell them to f**k off if I'm not comfortable with whatever concoction of deferral action I was asked to perform. Don't get me wrong, the airlines would never willingly fly an unsafe aircraft. But if there is say an engine vibration that is just right at a c**t hair under the limit they will fly it. If the oil is super low but servicing it will cause a delay--service it at the next stop. If the pilot encounters something at altitude that I can't duplicate on the ground--sign it off and see if it happens again. Those are the ones I usually push back on depending what it is. Also, if you have to get out of your seat so a mechanic can fix something don't b***h about it. I get harassed all the time by passengers even though my sole purpose is to get them in the air. Besides, I tell gate agents all the time not to load pax until I get out there but they never listen so go b***h at them. This is turning into a soapbox so I will stop.
#21
There is no philange.
#22
There are a number of tools out there to help you have a good flight experience:
[Seat Guru](http://www.seatguru.com/) will give you information on seat selection so you know if your seat has a misaligned window or extra legroom, etc.
[Route Happy](https://www.routehappy.com/) aggregates some key factors aggregating data on aircraft type, seat pitch, on-board entertainment, connections, etc to help you select a good flight.
[Flight Stats](http://www.flightstats.com/go/FlightRating/flightRatingByRoute.do) has data including information on the historical on-time performance of your flight.
Some fun airline websites include:
[Flight Radar 24](http://www.flightradar24.com/) which shows you all flights in the air around the world. You can click on a plane to see its origin and destination. You can filter by airport to see all flights headed to/from your city. It's a lot of fun to play around with.
[Airline Empires](http://www.airline-empires.com/) is a web game that lets you run your own airline deciding where to open routes, how to price them, what aircraft to purchase, etc. and compete against other real people running their fictional airlines.
#23
There is a small latch hidden inside the lavatory sign on the bathroom door, which will open the door when pulled, even when it's locked. Airplane Peekaboo!
EDIT: I don't work for the airlines. Credit for this goes to [The Oatmeal](http://theoatmeal.com/comics/airplane_peekaboo).
Oncinw 2 years ago
And this is also potentially dangerous to open it by yourself 😉 Sometimes we store in the lavatories such things as: - burnt portable devices to make the spread of fire less dangerous in case of re-ignition; - possibly hazardous waste, such as body liquids, after a sick passenger(-s); - sometimes we even lock one lavatory for a specific passenger who may be suffering from contagious disease discovered in-flight to prevent other passengers from getting ill. And on top of that, it can be locked if there is no water available in this specific lavatory (so you will not be able to flash after yourself or wash your hands there) or it can be locked if somebody else is using it. 😉 Don't even mention that they are locked in case of turbulence, as well as for the take-off, landing, and even during refuelling on ground. The morale: don't you dare to open it by yourself. Ask cabin crew, we will open it or instruct you if it is not possible to use this specific lavatory for a moment.
#24
Former ramper here. The amount of graffiti on the inside of airplane cargo bins is absurd
#25
I worked for a US regional for a few years in various departments. Here's some s**t:
* If your flight is delayed or cancelled for things that cause the airline to be at fault, the airline is responsible for accommodating you. For example, they cancel the last flight out to your destination because the pilot called in sick, they now have to get you a hotel for the night and rebook you on the first flight out the next day. However, things that they aren't at fault for, like weather, ATC system delays, etc, they don't accommodate you. We ran very old aircraft that would constantly break down and cancel tons of flights, but we would routinely blame cancellations on "ATC" or "en route weather" because the passengers don't know the difference and not only do we not have to accommodate them, now we can charge rebooking fees.
* Don't spend a lot of money on your luggage. Buy something that is cheap but durable. Those plastic-ish ones are the best in my opinion. Any kind of soft material will be destroyed by the rampies (guys who load the planes). Especially if they have *FRAGILE* written on them, they will toss them and drop them on purpose.
* If you ever hear a gate agent or flight attendant say "delta-bravo", that's phonetic for the letters DB. You might hear the gate say to the crew, "We have a delta bravo in one-one-charlie." Look over and see who's sitting in seat 11C, yeah that's the douchebag they're referring to.
* The stuff other people said about traveling is absolutely true. It is hands down the best perk of any job around. I went from the US to Italy for $54 round trip. Almost went to Dubai but that fell through, but it would have been $36 round trip. Tokyo was also $36. Anywhere in the U.S. was free. I've been around the world and back, i wouldn't change a thing if I could do it all over again.
Edit: spelling
#26
ALL airline employees fly standby for free. Gate agents, rampers, mechanics... if they're an employee for the airline they get unlimited free standby. So does their spouse/parents/children.
Any time you're at the gate and you see a list of standby passengers, chances are they're an airline employee.
Also, you'd be surprised by how much stuff actually breaks on an airplane. (Hint: A lot)
Most of the broken stuff is insignificant, but every once in a while something big (Like an APU, or a flight computer, or the autopilot) will break and the mechanics defer it to get the aircraft airborne. It's not *unsafe*, it's just more work for the pilots usually.
Leo Domitrix 2 years ago
And sometimes that "problem" will mean you lose 15K-plus feet (or, if you prefer metric, 4 and a half kilometers!) in about 120 seconds, and you only avoid being on "Air Disasters" b/c the pilots compensated for not compensating for the issue to start with.
#27
Locks on zippered bags are useless. You can pop a zipper with a pen and drag the locked zipper pulls around the bag to close them back up. I've done this many times to identify bags that are tagless and locked.
Edit: [Exactly like this.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbpKhHwwtiY&t=0m46s) Thanks /u/adma1987.
#28
Stewardess stopped giving a s**t a long time ago.
If people knew how planes are held together they wouldn't feel safe even though they totally are. Planes are actually pretty strong m***********s that can fly in a middle of a hurricane (of course most don't take the chance because it is still a f****n hurricane you know).
#29
Worked on military aircraft but it's something I've noticed pretty universal about jet engines in general: you have your auxiliary engine that runs while the aircraft is parked, providing power, hydraulics, ac, etc while you're at the terminal. When getting ready to depart, you turn on your main engines. It takes a lot of power to get them started. As such, most of the auxiliary power goes to starting the engines. This is the point where usually you may see the lights flicker, and you will hear the whine of the main engines start up. The environmental control unit (or whatever they want to call it), stops cycling air during this start sequence.
Without fail, if you watch for it, numerous hands will stick up and check or adjust the air conditioning vents as this happens. The air will kick back on when the engines are up and running.
Edit: okay, TIL (and had forgotten), jet engines use pneumatic power to start engines. I worked on jet turbines for turboprop. I have my manuals in storage, so I can't completely erase all doubt, but I do believe we used a hydraulically actuated starter.
#30
Almost every commercial flight you ride on has a dead body on board. Possibly 2 if you're on a wide body (large) air craft.
What do you think ?
Bernd Herbert 2 years ago
After reading the comments about luggage and being a frequent flyer myself I can't stop wondering if there shouldn't be a better way to handle luggage in airports and on planes. The whole system still feels like a thing from decades ago. Way too much dependence on manual labor.
Two_rolling_black_eyes 2 years ago
The Denver Airport built an automated system to handle the baggage. It has been sitting as a scrap metal since about 3 months after it was installed. It destroyed bags and had a tendency to put them on the wrong flight or no flight as well. There was some sabotage by baggage handlers trying to protect their jobs but independent people just watching the system could see it was catastrophe. This was over 15 years ago so there's a chance we could try again but at the end of the day, you need humans doing the piling. Amazon has AI designed box stacking on pallets/planes/trucks/etc but still requires humans to load/unload them because robots screw up on 3D tetris when the block/bag/box is not the perfect shape/weighted evenly (overstuffed bag or a box 90% empty).
Load More Replies... Leo Domitrix 2 years ago
Unsurprised by most, and baggage handlers arent gentle on the job. While the pay's not bad, nor benefits in some cases, in the US at least, they are exposed to hard physical labor and fumes, etc., all day, while having to hustle like Amazon warehouse workers. And you can't make the whole thing work on just computers, scanners, and conveyer belts, b/c the cost is prohibitive to get such systems to every gate in every terminal. (Imagine the cost added to your ticket so that a conveyer belt extends magically to the plane cargo hold, which will be differently located on different planes... Yeah, no.) So, I don't blame 'em. End of a shift like that, I'd be lucky to lift a cuppa, let alone another suitcase.
Bernd Herbert 2 years ago
After reading the comments about luggage and being a frequent flyer myself I can't stop wondering if there shouldn't be a better way to handle luggage in airports and on planes. The whole system still feels like a thing from decades ago. Way too much dependence on manual labor.
Two_rolling_black_eyes 2 years ago
The Denver Airport built an automated system to handle the baggage. It has been sitting as a scrap metal since about 3 months after it was installed. It destroyed bags and had a tendency to put them on the wrong flight or no flight as well. There was some sabotage by baggage handlers trying to protect their jobs but independent people just watching the system could see it was catastrophe. This was over 15 years ago so there's a chance we could try again but at the end of the day, you need humans doing the piling. Amazon has AI designed box stacking on pallets/planes/trucks/etc but still requires humans to load/unload them because robots screw up on 3D tetris when the block/bag/box is not the perfect shape/weighted evenly (overstuffed bag or a box 90% empty).
Load More Replies... Leo Domitrix 2 years ago
Unsurprised by most, and baggage handlers arent gentle on the job. While the pay's not bad, nor benefits in some cases, in the US at least, they are exposed to hard physical labor and fumes, etc., all day, while having to hustle like Amazon warehouse workers. And you can't make the whole thing work on just computers, scanners, and conveyer belts, b/c the cost is prohibitive to get such systems to every gate in every terminal. (Imagine the cost added to your ticket so that a conveyer belt extends magically to the plane cargo hold, which will be differently located on different planes... Yeah, no.) So, I don't blame 'em. End of a shift like that, I'd be lucky to lift a cuppa, let alone another suitcase.
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