A Flight Attendant's Secrets
Beating the lines, navigating security, and making it onboard your flight is half the battle, but with planes likely to be as crowded as ever this summer, there's still plenty of opportunity to get stressed out inside the cabin. U.S. News asked flight attendant JoAnn Kuzma Deveny, author of 99 Ways to Make a Flight Attendant Fly–Off the Handle, to advise travelers how to make a packed flight as pleasant as possible–for yourself, and those around you. Deveny has spent nearly 30 years working for a major airline based in Minnesota that does not officially endorse her advice, and she works on narrow-body jets like the Boeing 757 and the Airbus A320.
Some of her suggestions represent pleadings for basic civility: Don't stand in the aisle repacking your bag while 50 others are waiting to get by. If you're traveling with kids, don't let them practice their soccer kicks on the seatbacks in front of them. And save the muscle shirts and sandals for the beach.
Other insights will help travelers make the system work for them, even when it's stretched to capacity:
Underpack–just a little. Airlines recommend that carry-on suitcases be no larger than 9x14x22–but you could still end up having to check a carry-on if there's no overhead storage room left, or if your bag is overstuffed. Aircraft bins vary in size–757s have narrow but deep bins, for instance, while most Airbus jets have wider, shallower bins–and the smaller your carry-on, the more likely a flight attendant will be able to find room for it. Passengers with bulging carry-ons, by contrast, often get a practiced eye-roll when they plead for help, while their bag gets escorted off the plane to join all the other checked baggage.
Deveny also suggests that if you need to pack a suit and keep it crisp, use a thin garment bag. Most planes have small closets that are reserved for the coats of first-class passengers. But sometimes there's extra room, especially in summer. "Your flight attendant will more likely try to accommodate a thin garment bag," she says, "than that $200 roll-a-bag-with-a-hanger that some luggage salesman claimed would fit on any airplane."
Use the bathroom–before you board. Remember the horror stories from last winter about planes spending hours on the tarmac? Well, bathrooms are usually off limits during such delays, and there are always summer thunderstorms or other unpredictable elements that can hold up flights indefinitely. Even without delays, the wait for the loo can be long–Deveny estimates that on her flights, it takes 75 minutes from the time boarding begins until the pilot gives the in-flight all-clear that means passengers can hit the head. Can you wait that long? If you're traveling with children, can they?
Dress in layers. Airlines save money by cutting back on air conditioning while a plane is on the ground. "So before you board, the aircraft will be transformed into a greenhouse," Deveny explains. In the air, however, pilots tend to keep the plane very cool–usually at the request of the flight attendants, who are working and moving regularly. If you ask, flight attendants can request that pilots turn up the heat, but it's probably better just to bring a light sweater.
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