Airline secrets revealed

Be nice to flight attendants and they will be nice to you. Photo / 123RF

Ever wondered what goes on the behind the scenes in airports and airplanes?

A post on Reddit asked people who worked for airlines to reveal the secrets that passengers might not know - and there were some surprising results.

If you've ever transported an animal overseas, it's natural to wonder how your beloved pet is doing after they've been handed over to the care of airline staff. However, maybe it's best to be blissfully unaware.

"If you checked [in] your dog there's about a 30 per cent chance it's terrified before it even gets on the plane. Who knows how scared it gets during the actual flight," a poster who claimed to work with cargo wrote.

"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."

However, they added that they'd never had to comfort a cat during their job.

"Cats don't give a f***," they wrote.

Also in the bag room, a worker revealed some of the reasons bags were lost in transit.

This included extra security screening causing a bag to miss a flight, bags getting caught on the bag belt and bags getting checked in either too early or too late before a flight.

Another revealed secret might worry those who tend to take a long time in airplane bathrooms.

"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!"

Apparently, not all passengers who are taken on a plane early by wheelchair are actually disabled - rather just trying to get on first.

"People fake needing a wheelchair to gain boarding priority. Ten wheelchairs get on and only one person needs it getting off. We call [them] miracle flights."

And for those wanting to have the most pleasant flight possible, a flight attendant revealed an important tip: The nicer you are to us, the more we can do for you.

"Your neighbour is noisy? Tell us nicely and we might be able to get you a better seat.
"You're 35k feet in the air but you'd like to know the results of the game? Be nice and we can send a message to ground and ask.

"More often than not, when passengers are aggressive and nasty we'd render minimal service and not extend more help than need be.

Other interesting - and at times alarming - tips included:

"Two pilots are served different meals and cannot share. This is done in case of food poisoning."

In some cases, "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."

"That there's a huge list of things that can be missing from the aircraft while still being allowed to fly."

"When flying overseas there are generally no systems tracking the movement of your aircraft for several thousand miles i.e. how they go missing."

"Nobody ever asks what is actually holding the plane together. Don't worry 'bout it."

Maybe it pays not to think about such things ... just sit back and enjoy the flight.