08 February 2023 , 10:53
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Flight attendants have revealed that there's a rude passenger habit that can immediately turn them against you - before you've even sat down in your seat.
Flying is, by most accounts, not always the most pleasant experience, in no small part due to the lack of leg room, need to sleep next to strangers, and the vague fear of a catastrophic crash.
One thing that can make that stressful combination just that much worse is a frosty relationship with a member of the cabin crew.
A recent post on the Fly Guy's Cabin Crew Lounge Facebook page asked the assembled flight attendants what passengers do "that really burns your landing gears".
The top answer was a simple expression of bad manners.
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Poor overhead locker etiquette can be deeply annoying (Getty Images/Hero Images)"(When they) don't respond to my hello when I'm welcoming them on the plane," one flight attendant wrote.
Another added: "I always say hello and ALWAYS say 'thank you and have a good day' to the FAs upon deplaning, to the gate agent when I scan boarding pass and board, check-in etc. ALWAYS."
Several others shared how they go out of their way when flying as a customer to make polite chat with the crew and to wish them a good day.
As well as it being a kind thing to do, there are potential benefits of being friendly.
"On boarding a flight, I made a point of saying hello and asking the flight attendant how her day was going," one commenter added.
"During the beverage service she gave me two gin and tonics ( no charge) and commented how nice I was to her on boarding. It costs nothing to be nice!"
One aviation veteran said another way to slightly irk flight attendants is to respond to their greeting with your seat number when you board the plane.
Another bugbear comes when passengers who are trying to be polite actually make things more complicated for staff.
One person griped at customers who stack "every single thing on their meal tray thinking they are doing you a favour".
According to a different crew member, "passengers giving me a whole row of stacked meal trays in a pure mess is just horror.
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"Totally appreciate passengers handing me the tray exactly the same way that it was given to them."
The design of the tray means they are easy to stack if all the components are kept in place as they are, but require much more sorting out if the individual parts are towered up.
Sometimes passengers trying to be nice can make things worse (Getty Images/iStockphoto)Among the other annoying habits called out were "not taking off noise cancelling headphones when being spoken to" and "opening the overhead bin during the flight to take out something, and not closing it."
Another piece of bad manners is one which could become much more of an issue over the coming years when in-flight wi-fi becomes more accessible, and calls are allowed on flights.
One flight attendant said they found it annoying when passengers came "on the plane on the phone on speaker. Or a video chat. NO ONE wants to hear your conversation".