The question “People who work for airlines, what are secrets passengers don’t know?” was asked on Reddit. Here are the most popular responses:
1. “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!”
– /u/anony_meows
2. “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.”
– /u/kjerstih
3. “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.”
– /u/RabbitMix
4. “When you buy that plane ticket, you are automatically agreeing to the contract of carriage between you and the airline.
It’s a large document that easily found on every airlines website. And if passengers could be bothered to actually read it, it would save them and us so much trouble and awkwardness. So, don’t bitch about something clearly stated in that contract (like not getting a hotel in weather cancellations)”
– /u/PM_ME_YOUR_EMPENNAGE
5. “The terms “pilot and copilot” are extremely misunderstood and matter of fact rarely ever used in the industry.
First off, the “copilot” (more accurately First Officer) as many people believe otherwise, is every bit as capable and experienced (in some cases maybe more) than the “pilot” (ie Captain). He’s not (usually) the blithering idiot as shown in that one Denzel Washington movie. He has essentially the same authority as the captain, and they work as a team. News outlets love to say “the pilot did this, the pilot did that” and they always forget there’s a TEAM in the cockpit, the pilotS. It’s not a case of one guy more work than the other. We take turns flying. One guy flies out, one guy flies back or some other agreement.”
– /u/PM_ME_YOUR_EMPENNAGE
6. “We have every federal legal right to kick you out of the plane for whatever reason. Been there, done that.”
– /u/PM_ME_YOUR_EMPENNAGE
7. “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.”
– /u/Goat_Porker
8. “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 sh*t about cleaning it. I certainly didn’t when I worked for American Airlines. Also, because we weren’t given the proper supplies to clean it. We pretty much just rinsed it out and dumped coffee into it.”
– /u/WorseToWorser
9. “2 pilots are served different meals and cannot share, this is done in case of food poisoning.”
– /u/ichigo29
10. “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.”
– /u/nunswithknives
11. “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 shit just gets haphazardly shoved back in. They get tossed around like volleyballs. TSA is a lie.”
– /u/partyintheUSSR
12. “Chances are you’ve been on a flight with a dead body on board. Possibly 2 if you’re on a wide body (large) air craft.”
– /u/mm_cake
13. “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.”
– /u/paradoxofchoice
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