Hello everyone and welcome aboard – if you’re a frequent flyer, you hear this phrase a lot.
The moment they greet you, the crew is also checking out some important details about you: from your physique to your jewelry style.
Why, though?
They’ll notice if you’re their colleague.… and will be happy to see you. The crew’s number one priority is your safety. They know fellow flight attendants will be the best help in case of an emergency. They know exactly how to deal with it, so they won’t panic but help the crew evacuate passengers and provide first aid if necessary.
They’ll check out your reading material. Just like fellow flight attendants, doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals will be super helpful in case something goes wrong.
So if you’re a doctor coming back from a medical conference with a pile of medical leaflets or like to read medical journals aboard, the crew will know about your occupation even if you don’t say a word.
Your carry-on size matters.
You are only allowed this amount of carry-on of a certain maximum size for a reason. An experienced flight attendant will always see if you cheated and persuade you to have your oversized bags relocated to the luggage compartment.
Otherwise, they can fall out of the overhead, hurt you and other passengers, and block the crucially important aisles. Fitting them under the seats can also clog up the aisles.
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And even on a perfectly normal flight, loading and offloading a bunch of bags just takes extra time.
Your age is a big deal, too. The flight crew will always take a record of how many unaccompanied minors are traveling today to give them extra attention and care. In fact, young passengers get it, as almost
all airlines have entertainment sets or just coloring books for them.
Passengers under 2 can’t be seated in an emergency exit row and need special life vests that are handed out to parents if necessary. It’s great for them if you look strong. Again, for safety reasons, and not out of their personal interest. In the unlikely case of an emergency, with a troublemaker on board, for example, they’ll need as much help as they can get.
The crew labels muscular passengers ‘fit to help’ in their minds and even remember where they’re seated. Your general health condition is important to them. Flight attendants are trained to notice signs and symptoms of sickness.
They are entitled to ask you for a medical certificate to prove it’s nothing serious. First, they do it for your own safety and well-being: cabin air pressure and change of altitude won’t help if you’re feeling bad.
Second, no one wants to land the plane halfway there because of a sudden medical emergency. And finally, communicable diseases can easily spread from one passenger to another in an enclosed plane environment, and no one wants that. They can tell how many weeks a pregnant woman is.
Experienced flight attendants have learned to tell which trimester pregnant passengers are in. After a certain number of weeks, they are normally required to have a medical note saying it’s safe for them to fly.
They care if you’re nice to them. They have to say “hello” over a hundred times per flight, and they really appreciate it if you care to say the same back to them once. Add a smile and eye contact, and you can hope for special treatment including an extra meal or even a class upgrade.
They do remember if you’re unfriendly. If for some reason you can’t utter a “hello” on entering the plane, you’re not just demonstrating bad manners. In fact, the crew is testing passengers in this way. The grumpy ones are marked as possibly hostile. Flight attendants will know not to ask these people for help in case of an emergency. Avoiding eye contact speaks volumes, too.
The second part of passenger testing is trying to establish eye contact with them. If a person looks away, it’s a reason to be alarmed. It can’t be 100% evidence they are plotting something dangerous, but it’s one of the signs a person has something they’re ashamed of on their mind.
They notice how you treat other passengers, too. If you push your way through the crowd during landing and yell at other passengers to move on, the crew will take note of that and mark you as a potential troublemaker. If you help others lift their bags, smile, and start small talk with passengers who clearly feel nervous, they’ll definitely appreciate it and reward you with some bonus treats.
The way you speak can give away your plans. Speaking too fast or too slowly, hesitating when asked the most basic questions, and dropping in a lot of interjections are all clear signs of anxiety. It’s typical of criminals plotting something mean.
Scratching your head and wrists, unnaturally tense facial muscles, stiff movements, coughing, excessive nodding, and head shaking speak of the same. No one will take you off the flight for it, but it will draw some extra attention from the crew to you. They will know if you’re aerophobic. If you’re always nervously smiling or laughing, squeezing your armrest, or playing with your headphone cord, flight attendants will guess you have aerophobia.
And they’ll do their best to make you feel comfortable. They’ll try to cheer you up and if it doesn’t work they’ll leave you alone and keep an eye out from the distance to help prevent a starting panic attack. Speaking of aerophobia and panic attacks, I think I’m having one right now – just kidding.
Lemme ask you: do you love flying or do you feel uncomfortable in the air? Let me know in the comment section below. The way you’re dressed can make a difference. If you are well-dressed and well-groomed,
you have higher chance of a class upgrade. It takes some style to travel in business and first, you know.
Another reason the crew checks out your outfit is to see if anything you’re wearing can be an obstacle if you have to leave the plane in an emergency. It’s not just stuff that’s loose or bulky, but also flammable materials. They care what kind of jewelry you’re wearing. It matters just as much as clothing when it comes to safety. Massive earrings or bracelets can slow down the evacuation.
Who you’re boarding with is also important. If you’re traveling with your family but for some reason have seats in different rows, the crew can try to seat you together during boarding. It will make the flight more pleasant for everyone aboard. One more important thing here: if the physically fit man they noticed a few points ago is with his family, the crew will have to look for someone else as a prospective help.
A family man will more likely save his dear ones first, and not risk his life for other passengers. They have an eye for contraband items. Flight attendants have a sharp eye and can notice if you’re trying to smuggle any forbidden items from a Duty-Free shop and use them during the flight. Some people also smuggle their miniature pets in purses and handbags. Woof woof woof.
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They can single out frequent flyers. Frequent flyers like to get the special treatment they deserve for their loyalty to the airline. They will unlikely put on a nametag with their flight status on it, but when the crew does research on passengers they get an idea of what those people look like.
All the factors I mentioned help the crew in making your flight the safest. They are smart enough not to make any conclusions based on just one thing, but when they put a few of them together it can help single out the troublemakers. So if you don’t want to be considered one of those, you know what to do now!
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