Simple Flight Etiquette

There is something about being stuck inside a giant metal can flying at an altitude of 35,000 feet across oceans and land masses that drives some people crazy. There have been cases where an airplane had to make an emergency landing just to boot off a passenger who has gone completely mental and caused some sort of harm to the plane and to his fellow passengers because of air rage.

Admittedly, that is quite an extreme case. Nonetheless, when a group of people are confined in that closed space that is the airplane’s cabin, with some feeling tired and anxious or having a touch of claustrophobia, the least they can all do to avoid driving each other up the wall is to observe a little etiquette.

Some people find that etiquette is just for ninnies and that everyone should be able to do exactly what they want with their time. Unlike what these people believe, etiquette is only a form of showing consideration for other people. Showing consideration for others preserves harmony, something that is needed in a fragile environment as the interior of an aircraft cabin. Besides, following simple etiquette is not hard to do. Most likely, they are things that we do everyday, anyway.

Among the simple things we can do to not annoy our fellow passengers is to take a bath before heading for the airport. It sounds crazy, but some people do show up at the airport all rumpled and smelly. It is going to be hard for his fellow passengers to sit still around him during a one-hour flight.

Another thing that can prove to be downright irritating to other passengers is a fellow passenger who is totally soused on board. Too much booze addles the senses. So, no matter how scared we are of the prospect of flying, we should not really drown our fears with alcohol.

Pushing our way through during boarding time so we could be the first inside the plane, never mind the fact that there is a seating arrangement, is totally rude. The same goes with fighting our way out of the plane the moment it arrives at the destination airport. The situation gets even worse when we fight our way through the plane lugging so much stuff with us. Instead of doing this, we could wait for our turn for a change.

Speaking of luggage, dumping our bags on the aisle when there is no more space in the overhead compartment is a huge no-no. Someone could trip over them and fall. If that hapless person is an American, we might end up getting sued. Do we really want that to happen?

Sometimes, airline seats are not as comfortable as their commercials would make us believe. There are times when reclining the seat is necessary to be more comfortable. However, we should try not to recline our seats so much that it hits the knees of the person behind us. Also, if we have to move around, we could request for an aisle seat so we would not be disturbing our seatmates too much.

These are just a few things we can do to help preserve the harmony inside the aircraft for the duration of our flight. If the flight is good for our fellow passengers, then it is good for us too.