34 Frequent Fliers Share Unwritten Rules That Passengers Should Follow On Airplanes

To gain more insight on this topic, we reached out to airline pilot, bestselling author, and the host of Ask the Pilot, Patrick Smith. Patrick was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda and explain some of the most important unspoken rules of flying.

"When reclining your seat, please do it SLOWLY," the pilot says. "Remember that the person behind you may have items on his or her tray table, and that tray table is (in most cases) attached to YOUR seat. This a particular hazard for laptops, as the screen can become pinched between the table and the upper cushion of the seat-back as it reclines."

"'Assault recliners' is my term for those passengers who come hauling back at full speed with no warning, leaving you but a split-second to save your computer from this deadly nutcracker, and/or upending your coffee," Patrick added.

"If you want to make things slightly easier on your fellow travelers, here’s a simple recommendation: when boarding, please don't place your carry-on bags in the first empty bin that you come to," Patrick shared. "Use a bin as close to your seat as possible."

"It drives me crazy when I see a guy shoving his roll-aboard into a bin above row 5, then continuing on to his assigned seat in row 52. I know it’s tempting, but this causes the forward bins to fill up quickly," the pilot explained. "Those seated in the front must now travel backward to stow their belongings, then return upstream, against the flow of traffic, slowing everybody down. Then, after landing, these same people have to fight their way rearward again while everybody else is trying to exit."

Patrick also shared that flying on planes used to be a special occasion. "Not all that long ago, only a fraction of the population could afford to fly on a regular basis," he told Bored Panda. "When I was in middle school, in the late ’70s, maybe a third of my classmates had ever been on an airplane. Even into high school I frequently met other kids who’d never flown. And for those who did fly, there was something special about it. You behaved well, and even dressed up for the occasion."

"Flying today is far cheaper than it used to be. As a result, almost everybody does it, and almost everybody takes it for granted," Patrick explained. "And as the demographics have changed, so have the levels of behavior. Which maybe shouldn’t be shocking. With over three million people flying every day of the week, across every strata of age, culture and class the world over, we should expect that standards of decorum will fall."