Proper Airline Etiquette

Alright todays installment of “on the road with Craigers” will be all about proper airline etiquette, be it on a short flight or a long haul. Just a quick disclaimer this is of course is in reference to those that turn right when boarding an airlplane and walk quickly and with head down past the business class seats and onward to the economy class cabins.
Now for those of you who do not travel all that often let me start by saying that yes, it does matter what cabin you are in when travelling in economy. The difference between being located just behind the business class curtain or finding yourself in row 65 at the back of the plane is very significant. If for no other reason than in my own head , yes row number in economy is very important.

Now I being a frequent flier and someone who is well versed in the various games to be played with airlines take it quite seriously as to what row I am located in. I compare it to what it must have been like back in the days on the big ships when the riff raff and poor people were located in the depths of the ship next to the boiler / furnace room. While the middle class might have actually had a little window peering out into the ocean from their small cabin. The rich of course ran the roost and were served on hand and foot. Alright back to the airline topic and the various levels of respect and rules that people should be aware of. In case you are not aware there is indeed a handbook with a few rules governing the do's and dont's.

Lets start at the beginning of the journey while in the queue for security screening. It is actually okay to use the time while lined up to get prepared and be ready once it is your turn to place items in tubs and walk through the detector. This means that while passing time moving ever so slowly towards the security point dont be afraid to put all of your coins and obvious metals into your jacket pocket. Thus removing your jacket and preparing to place it in a bin. You can take this another step forward and remove your belt placing it inside your bag perhaps. I then like to take my laptop out and have it ready to go in a bin. Apart from placing said jacked with metals into a bin, my laptop into its own bin, and my bag up on the belt, the only thing left to do once reaching my turn at the screening is to remove my shoes. Now some of you may think this is all unnecessary and prefer to do it all once reaching your turn at the belt , but trust me it cuts down on time and preperation is key! There is nothing worse than being behind someone who is fumbling around to remove all their items only to beep while going through the detector because they forgot to take the gum in the foil packing out of their back pocket.

Okay i will admit this first rule is a rather minor one, but in my mind its the start of the chain and if i see you fumbling around and taking forever to get your shit together then i know you are the traveller that flies twice a year and i will make every effort to steer clear of you from this point on.

Rule number two once boarding the flight is a two part rule. The first part is that seriously people do you need to bring your giant suitcase on as a checked piece of luggage and then struggle to put it in the overhead compartment? The second rule is that while placing things in the overhead bin, or getting your "shit" together, dont be afraid to make a little bit of room or effort to clear the aisleway for the rest of us to pass. YOu may be in row 21 and feeling rather special, but some of us are still only halfway to our destination of row 67!

Now once you have taken your seat and we are in fact in the air is it truly necessary to recline your seat back to the furthest most back it will go? This is absolutlely not allowed when you, the recliner, are located in the first row of the cabin and have no obstruction or seat in front of you. In fact reclining while in this first row is just plain rude and I will be the first one to tell you this. Never more was this the case then my recent flight from New York to Paris. Let me ask you this, is it really that comfortable and relaxing to recline completely back while in the first row only to have the guy behind you, me, making every possible effort to jab my knees into your back and make it very noticeable that i dont appreciate having your seat back pressed up against my chin.

Okay onward to the next rule of respect which involves exiting while in flight. If you need to get up to go stretch or what not then you should. I just think that you should practice a level of balance and respect and try your best to refrain from using the seats in front of you as a means of pulling yourself up and steadying yourself. All this does is move and shake the person around who is in front of you when really all you need to do is sit upright in a mature manner and realize the level of effect you have on the passengers around you. A side note to this is that if you have a bowel problem , or you are the type who likes to get up and stretch often during the flight, perhaps you could request an aisle seat as opposed to the window.

Now there are several other little rules and levels of respect when it comes to long haul flights but most of which are really common sense if you sit down and think about it.
I will leave you with one final note , and that is that when the cabin is dark and everyone is sleeping. Maybe keeping your light on and having a loud full on conversation with your new best friend that is sitting beside you is probably not the best idea in the world. Or maybe in your head it is the best idea....

thats it for now..


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