Airlines, like judicious parents, keep secrets for a reason: What you don’t know can’t scare you.
Well, thanks to the Reader’s Digest feature “35 Secrets Your Pilot Won’t Tell You,” the mystery has been revealed. And, frankly, we’re thinking of taking the bus.
Did you know that pilots are encouraged to carry as little fuel as possible — thus saving on costs, but also risking an emergency landing? Or that the navigators of our metal flying machines are allowed to work for up to 16 hours without a break?
Need to know more??Head to www.rd.com for the full list.
What pilots are saying
“I’m constantly under pressure to carry less fuel than I’m comfortable with. Airlines are always looking at the bottom line, and you burn fuel carrying fuel. Sometimes if you carry just enough fuel and you hit thunderstorms or delays, then suddenly you’re running out of gas and you have to go to an alternate airport.” –Captain at a major airline
“Sometimes the airline won’t give us lunch breaks or even time to eat. We have to delay flights just so we can get food.” –First officer on a regional carrier
“The Department of Transportation has put such an emphasis on on-time performance that we pretty much aren’t allowed to delay a flight anymore, even if there are 20 people on a connecting flight that’s coming in just a little late.” –Commercial pilot, Charlotte, North Carolina
“Please don’t complain to me about your lost bags or the rotten service or that the airline did this or that. My retirement was taken to help subsidize your $39 airfare.” –Pilot, South Carolina
“Some FAA rules don’t make sense to us either. Like the fact that when we’re at 39,000 feet going 400 miles an hour, in a plane that could hit turbulence at any minute, [flight attendants] can walk around and serve hot coffee and Chateaubriand. But when we’re on the ground on a flat piece of asphalt going five to ten miles an hour, they’ve got to be buckled in like they’re at NASCAR.” –Jack Stephan, US Airways captain based in Annapolis, Maryland, who has been flying since 1984
“At some airports with really short runways, you’re not going to have a smooth landing no matter how good we are: John Wayne Airport; Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Chicago Midway; and Reagan National.” Joe D’Eon, a pilot at a major airline who produces a podcast at flywithjoe.com
“This happens all the time: We’ll be in Pittsburgh going to Philly, and there will be a weather delay. The weather in Pittsburgh is beautiful. Then I’ll hear passengers saying, ‘You know, I just called my friend in Philly, and it’s beautiful there too,’ like there’s some kind of conspiracy or something. But in the airspace between Pittsburgh and Philly there’s a huge thunderstorm.” –Jack Stephan
“Most of the time, how you land is a good indicator of a pilot’s skill. So if you want to say something nice to a pilot as you’re getting off the plane, say ‘Nice landing.’ We do appreciate that.” –Joe D’Eon
To read more from the pilots, visit www.rd.com
Five things …
Your flight attendant won’t tell you:
1 “Want to start off on the wrong foot with me? Put your carry-on in a full overhead bin, leave it sticking out six inches, then take your seat at the window and wait for someone else (me!) to come along and solve the physics problem you just created.”
2 “We don’t have a boyfriend in every city. And our median age these days is 44.”
3 “If you’re traveling with a small child and you keep hearing bells, please look to see if it’s your child playing with the flight attendant call bell.”
4 “The lavatory door is not rocket science. Just push.”
5 “Do you really have to go to the bathroom right now, while we’re wrestling a 250-pound food cart down the aisle? You can’t wait 90 seconds for us to pass?”
