SAFEsky air travel practical guidelines Episode 3 – fasten your seatbelts

Together with SAFEsky we continue air travel practical guidelines - what we can do to make our air journey better. Frederick Reitz, Managing Director of SAFEsky, is ready for episode three - fasten your seatbelts, right things to do and especially not to do. Traditionally, you can take the notes or opt for the PDF download of this article.

Here are some highlights of the discussion:

• Once onboard and ready to fly – a lot of people are getting stressed when they are onboard. The airline is pushing more than hundreds of people to get seated and then people are going throe the backpack … Better have your book or small items you will actually use in your hands; thus, you will be able to put your bags away fast and easy. Listen to crew members recommendations;
• Remember, nowadays most of crew members are not allowed to help you to lift your suitcase, as many of them got injured. Pack accordingly so it wouldn’t be too heavy;
• I know we’ve heard it many times – the evacuation process – but every plane is different, so once you sit down, look around, what is your plan? In case there is an emergency, what I will do?
• Try to sit with or close to your family;
• Dress for comfort – dress for security;
• Dealing with passengers being in their “bubble” – avoid the screaming and yelling plane. During the boarding process, you should pay attention to what is happening, what people are asking you to do or not to do, what if something happened and we need to get off
  Recent incident on United Airlines flight when gentleman tented to open the door during the flight, passenger reaction when that person was screaming and yelling – they were looking straight ahead and ignoring him. We need to be aware of our surroundings – just ignore him is not a good thing. Pay attention to what’s going on;
• Passengers after a bit too much of drinks before the flight – fits to fly. With electronic tickets and check in unless you have a checked luggage nobody sees you. So, unless the person will stumble passing the boarding gate it is hard to identify such passengers. If you see someone is not in having troubles, take a moment, make sure that he’s OK. People are so stressed to get on that we don’t see any more this interaction. Once onboard it falls on the flight attendant. Passengers are welcome to share their concerns;
• How do you prevent massive passenger’s conflicts on board? It is not the job of inflight crew members to get physically involved in the conflict and restraint anybody. You might ask other passengers for help. But before it gets to that point – separate the parties! Flight attendant can take these people and separate them by seating somewhere else, asking somebody to move if needed. At this point it is not customer service – it is safety measures;

TO BE CONTINUED, SO STAY TUNED!