My Latest Economy Class Observations Are Disturbing

Many Economy Class passengers don’t realise they are doing annoying, disgusting and disrespectful things. Here are some beauties I just observed from my little corner of Economy Class on a couple of long-haul flights (out of six I did over a three week period).

Just after meal time

When the person in front of you reclines their seat before you have finished your meal. That’s happened to me and I made sure the person in front of me understood this. I tapped him on the shoulder and repeated several times not to assume the person behind has finished their meal. Just because you are not eating it doesn’t mean everyone else has also done so. The right thing to do is to look around or ask then recline.

Walking the aisle

The bad habit of grabbing the top of the headrest while walking down the aisle doesn’t seem to go away. People do this to keep balanced; especially older people. I can’t blame them. Many don’t realise that there is a cup holder not far below, just below where the hand grabs the top corner of the headrest. Besides putting pressure on the headrest and perhaps waking up someone (or disturbing them in some other way), there’s always the chance something drops in your drink (or food). The person sitting ahead of you may have scratched their head or left hair at the top of the seat. These can fall down at any time. Who knows what small particles end up in your drink or food?

Grabbing the top of the seat while walking down the aisle is not going to stop overnight so the simplest solution would be to drink (and eat) up quickly. There’s no other choice.

Another habit that seems ever present is walking around in your socks (and visiting the lavatory) then plonking them onto the bulkhead where hands end up for balance. And of course…

Where feet don’t belong

Saw a woman right in from of me tie up her shoe while resting it on a cushion on the seat. The person who was sitting there had gone to the lavatory. The woman had no regard for this person’s cushion and what she may have left on it. We don’t know if she had been to the lavatory herself with those shoes. The same woman went further! She accessed the overhead bin by climbing onto the seat instead of using the built-in step! If she couldn’t reach she should have asked the FAs who do this all the time.

The perennial cough

Coughing without covering the mouth is one of the most common habits on a plane. Hard to stop coughing when the air conditioning doesn’t suit everyone. I’ve been fine with it 90 percent of the time but in these last few flights I was badly affected by it. If you already have a condition it won’t make it any better. I covered my mouth and nose as much as possible and never coughed towards anyone. It was very hard to control. No real solution here so the best we can do is cover up and pray the air con filters do their job (as they say they do).

When to access overhead bins

A woman went to access the overhead bin one row ahead of where she was sitting while two people in the aisle seats were still eating. She did this also at the same time the FAs had their cart in the aisle and were about to start clearing trays. They had to stop because of her. I looked at the FAs and they gave me that helpless and forlorn look. She then bent over with her arse in the air centimetres from my face with her elbow also about to hit my head! Talk about disrespect towards others!

Another man was looking for a bag that had his child’s toiletries. He was seated in the forward middle three allocated for parents with kids. He couldn’t remember where he had put the bag so looked at eight overhead bins, four on each side from the front. He did go through some a second time. The issue here is you should have all your bags over your head in the overhead locker belonging to your seat numbers or have them stowed under the seat. Not sure if they boarded early as they should with little ones. That’s the whole point so they can organise themselves.

Also if people continue to carry too much stuff, like more than one carry-on bag (whether a backpack, roller case, overnight bag) into the cabin in total disregard of other passengers it is going to exasperate matters. A complaint that’s been around a while and not going to change soon unless airlines go hard.

But wait there is more…

Sleeping using the tray table as a head support. Awkward as it sounds but a few people do this and are oblivious the person sitting in front wants to recline. Legs stretched into aisles with the included blanket. A tripping hazard when lights are out. Large (overweight) bodies, their arms and legs spilling over into neighbouring seats. When in contact they transfer their body heat into you! These are all typical of Economy Class. No wonder many call it cattle class.

Finally…Conduct!

Honestly I think airlines should have a code of conduct spelt out to passengers after boarding. Just like the safety video. Too many of these bad habits are going on. Economy Class travel is becoming even more gross than we know it is. Sad.